adonis98-743-186503 After having responded to her son's numerous letters in the guise of his father, a woman hires a stranger to pose as his dad when meeting him. Dear Frankie is a very sweet and touching movie with 3 great performances by Emily Mortimer, Jack McElhone and Gerard Butler. Also without spoil anything to those who haven't seen or heard the film like ever this movie is extremely touching but of course you know that and very well directed and acted the only problem i found was mostly the ending the film could have ended with a much better happy ending especially when The Stranger played by Butler cares more about the kid than the money. Anyways in the end this movie is really good although the ending kinda left me disappointed.

Rameshwar IN Over a period of time, I started to admire Emily Mortimer's work and this movie is the best example of her talent. A simple sweet story with minimum characters and a lot of heart.Set in the suburbs of Glasgow, Lizzie (Emily Mortimer) is a single mom to Frankie (Jack McElhone) and she makes him believe that his father is a globe trotter in his ship and so he can't be around while hiding the truth about her separation. She writes to Frankie as his father giving him indications on where he is which Frankie follows passionately. When Frankie goes into a bet with his schoolmate to bring his father to a football match, Lizzie has to find someone to be Frankie's dad for the day. She employs a stranger (Gerard Butler).Some movies are such where everyone is nice to each other and the situations are not challenging, but still the portrayal of lives can be very interesting. Gerard Butler stays in his element and gives a humble elegant performance and McElhone and his classmates does an apt job. But the real eyeopener was Emily Mortimer with her passionate yet controlled performance. There is hardly any moment that felt forced for dramatic effect in a rather very flat yet entertaining screenplay. It is a joy to listen to Scottish accent. Background score gels well in some dramatic moments.Simple, humble, entertaining, heartwarming.

ram6328 The Director's name is Shona Auerbach: I was moved by her display of patience, and confidence in the "illustration of silence" - allowing the film to play out at a pace either organically created on-set or in her own intuition - either way, she showed extreme patience in the gradualness of the production. Just when you thought you had the story figured she would intricately place another turn/detail with absolute precision.I can only imagine how Quentin Tarantino would've approached this film, given on a silver platter the violent opportunities in the script, he probably would've tore into some violent display, (eg: the event that caused Frankie's hearing loss) in some dramatic opening scene - or maybe had one of the characters reprimand the school bully for his overt abuse. Most male directors have a difficult time resisting the apparent or the obvious - Ms. Auerbach showed incredible restraint not to do what was anticipated.For example... You knew at some point Lizzie and the stranger were going to kiss, maybe on the walk along the ocean after the party or shortly there after. However, she showed confidence in the power of silence to wait and instead ask the actors to just stand at the door and literally stare, for what felt like at least 60 seconds before partially acknowledging what was just a half kiss - as a viewer this directly interfered with my expectations, and gave additional credence to....This is not a movie at all, we're voyeurs actually watching this un-fold.Most directors/actors would've rushed through that scene - not finding it a pivotal, powerful, poignant, telling moment as she did. Her patience to "wait" and allow the actors to feel their way through the movie almost as if they were blind-folded, literally having to feel the gravity of each scene before actually filming.Can you imagine the discipline required - literally fighting against your natural instincts to tell the story while the actors I'm sure are fighting against their own natural instinct to act or what turns into over-acting - this could've easily turned into a scenario where the crew was filming a... Take #:45 of a scene #:30. Another example...Would be the two actors at the fish tank observing the sea horse - let's remember directing child actors has it's own challenges, imagine the responsibility coupled with having to draw everyone on-set into your belief that the silence is working and how it can ultimately show in the film as an additional character.Further, It was the juxtaposition of how the director used silence and Frankie's silence (being deaf)... Truly captivating! As a viewer, and like his Mother, the only time we could hear his voice was through the letters.Another moving scene for me was when Frankie came home from school and leaned up against the wall in the lobby portraying this intimate moment with the design in the tile. For me, it was the proof she was in some type of zone - it was like watching Michael Jordan go lights out in game 7 in the NBA Finals. She was so committed and brazen in her belief that the silence was working - I simply sat back and watched in awe. Now knowing her background as a still photographer and cinematographer, and with this being her first feature film - I spent more time listening to what she "didn't" say.I was struck by how she refrained from illuminating the majestic back-drop, the ocean scenery set in the small Scottish town off the coast - instead she choose to use this grayish hue. I can only assume she felt it would be adding un-needed layers, and pulling the viewer away from the power of the story. The directors job is similar to a musical composer, who in the studio has to make the critical creative decision when enough is enough - Shona and her editor executed with perfection! In closing.. There are rarely movies where a powerful story is equally matched, maybe dominated by a powerful performance (..yes performance) by the director, this is indeed one of those rarities.http://www.totalfilm.com/trailers/dear-frankie-inthttp://www.totalfilm.com/trailers/dear-frankie-int

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.