ClassyWas
Excellent, smart action film.
Bessie Smyth
Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.
Wyatt
There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.
NateWatchesCoolMovies
Dear Frankie is a sad yet life affirming little modern fairytale set on the evocative Scottish coastal region, in a small fishing village home to many trawlers and vessels which are always coming or going. This is the place that Lizzie (Emily Mortimer) has chosen to raise her young son Frankie (Jack Mcelhone). The one thing missing is a father, who has been missing ever since he was born. Filled with love and a need for Frankie to know at least who he was, she writes him letters as if she were his dad, telling him tales of life at sea and corresponding with him for some years. As he gets older she wishes he could have met him at some point, and comes up with a slightly strange plan. She meets a Stranger (Gerard Butler) in town, who is a sailor himself, and hires him to pose as Frankie's father, and spend some time with him. Butler agrees, but it's clear he hasn't spent much time around kids in his life, and the meeting is awkward at first. Soon they get on well enough, which pleases Lizzie and is good for Frankie. Still, the issue remains that the Stranger is not Frankie's real father and Lizzie knows this, torn between the cathartic interaction she sees for her son, and the facts that she knows to be true. Mortimer is sorrowful and harbours clear hurt and loneliness, the reaching out she does to Butler as much for herself as it is for Frankie. Butler starts off charming and be used by the proposition, until he realizes the gravity of the situation he is in and learns so,etching about himself that was dormant in his life until he met Lizzie and Frankie. The human relationships are explored tenderly and with patient reverence that ebbs and flows with the English Channel tides. Beautiful stuff.
juneebuggy
This was really well done. Just a wonderful, honest and simple little drama about a woman who hires a stranger (Gerard Butler) to pose as her deaf 9 year old sons father to hide him the from the sad truth about his real dad. The story is bittersweet, heartwarming and touching.Emily Mortimer is fantastic as the mother (supportive but desperate) and I liked how her story regarding why she was on the run and hiding the real dad from her son was revealed in layers. Butler only has a small role but is suitably charismatic, handsome and romantic. I do wish they'd revealed more of his back story, why did he bond so quickly to the boy? But as the mother wanted, it was to be sort of an anonymous 24 hour endeavor.Jack McElhone plays the gentle natured Frankie and despite the fact that he doesn't speak throughout the film you get a feel for him through his thoughts and the letters he writes to his absent father."Dear Da, did you know something, we're moving again. Ma says that its definitely the last time but she says that every single time." Excellent supporting cast in the grandmother and Lizzie's BFF at the "Chippie" I also enjoyed the small Scottish town setting. Great job. 6/30/15
simona gianotti
This is one of those "minimal", British movies, which appeal the viewer for the sober development of the plot and and for the intense acting, and where meanings are to be found more in silences than in dialogues. The relationship mother and child is narrated with delicacy, simplicity, but true pathos, the little Frankie proving so touching in his tender attitudes and look, and the mother relating with him with such concerned affection. No doubt, two great performances. The concept of fatherhood stands out very clearly and the hardest moments are connected with that same concept, being a father not a matter of biological paternity, but something deeper. Inside this family drama, the role of Gerard Butler appears as significant more in relation with the young Frankie than in his affection for Lizzie, and proves unobtrusive and discrete enough to give the story a positive turning point. The landscape is always there to reflect the emotional side of the story, together with a delicate and touching soundtrack. A picture I would suggest to parents, but also to all viewers who still love simple, good stories with some feelings inside.
George Wright
I saw Dear Frankie recently and never having heard about it, was pleased that TV Ontario had televised this little gem of a motion picture. On this side of the Atlantic, we often miss out on some of the better movies that come out of the British Isles and this one is no exception. All the actors are excellent and the atmosphere of the Scottish coastal town has a wonderful sense of location, grim and majestic at the same time.The movie is realistic and heart-warming with an understated sense of humor. The child in the role of Frankie, performed by Jack McElhone, is an absolute delight. He is bright and imaginative child with a severe hearing impairment but not completely deaf (he is using a hearing aid). Yet he can stand up to the bullying tactics of the other kids at school. His mother Lizzie (Emily Mortimer) is coping with the responsibilities of being a single mother, while longing to find a husband. The surrogate father (Gerard Butler) seems to be a natural as the missing link in the family unit, while Lizzie faces the torture of dealing with the real father. The rest of the cast, including Lizzie's mother and her best friend, are all worthy of mention.The ending is bittersweet but hopeful. It is rare to find a movie that tells a story so well and is yet so down-to-earth. This is fine movie. Don't miss it.
