Product Description: To spare her fatherless son's feelings, a mother writes letters to her son pretending to be his seafaring father. Then she must hire a man to be his father when the boy is determined to meet him. Genre: Feature Film-Drama Rating: PG13 Release Date: 5-JUL-2005 Media Type: DVD
Amazon.com: Driven by intelligent, constantly surprising and moving performances from the film's leads, Dear Frankie stars Emily Mortimer (Lovely and Amazing) as Lizzie, Scottish mother of Frankie (Jack McElhone), a deaf and highly intelligent 9-year-old. Constantly uprooting themselves and relocating from town to town, Lizzie and Frankie are on the run from the latter's abusive father, a fact unknown to the boy, who believes his dad is a busy seaman sending letters full of adventure and love. In fact, Lizzie is writing those missives, but she is faced with a challenge when Frankie discovers his father's ship will dock nearby. Lizzie hires a kind, handsome stranger (Gerard Butler) to play Frankie's dad, creating an odd situation in which ever-growing lies become a conduit for love, and Lizzie's repressed desires come to the fore with a man posing as her husband. The moral tangles are of interest in director Shona Auerbach's charmingly paced, quietly insightful drama-comedy, but so is the glorious feeling of watching these characters come fully alive. --Tom Keogh
Dear Frankie is the kind of film where less is definitely more. It's the story of a single Scottish mom Lizzie (Emily Mortimer) and her deaf son Frankie(ably played by Jack McElhone.) Lizzie, her Mum, Nell (Mary Riggans), and Frankie frequently move to keep one step ahead of Lizzie's abusive ex-husband and his family. Now, newly relocated in the Scottish seaside town of Greenock, she accepts a job at the local fish and chips shop owned by Marie (Sharon Small) and enrolls the boy in school.
Lizzie goes to great lengths to protect her son from the reality of what kind of man his father is, even to renting a post office box and gathering the letters Frankie writes to his father, then answering them elaborately as if Frankie's dad is sailing around the world.
Things get difficult when Frankie learns his dad's ship, the Accra, will be docking in Greenock. What's a mum to do? With a little help from Marie, Lizzie hires a stranger (Gerard Butler) to pretend he's Frankie's dad for a day.
Lizzie is devoted to her son, and this shows so beautifully in the film. It's also charming to see how the stranger softens toward Frankie, asking to spend another day with him.
The film is well directed by Shona Auerbach with excellent photography and a wondrous soundtrack.
This is not a slice of real life type of film, but it is one that will keep you remembering it for a long time.
Highly recommended.
A movie worth watching! (which isn't easy to come by) This movie has depth, emotion, realistic characters and relationships, a story that hasn't been told a hundred times, and a beautiful soundtrack. Movies like this are few and far between!
Delightly Beautiful Movie Not knowing the cast or anything about the movie, but was told to watch it from customers, it surprised me on how much of a great movie it was. After I had seen it I pretty much put it in the back of my mind. Then I started to see more movies featuring Gerard Butler, so I re-watched the movie and it had brought me to tears.
The movies story is so realistic down to earth about a mothers love for her son, wanting to protect her son from any "futher" harm, but wants to hear his voice by writing to him as his father, and the kid writes back. Mothers desperate need to fulfill her sons happiness, hires a "fake dad" to play his fathers roll. Thats when Gerard Butler comes to play.
Amazing movie, full of happiness, and understand of family connection, and that a role model is needed in a kids life.
Dear Frankie Wife bought this movie - she is a fan of Gerard Butler - loved the movie - he is a great actor and the movie was very moving - loved it.
Warm fuzzy award alert! Get ready to get all wrapped up in this tender story about a little deaf boy and his 'father'...if you're a Gerry Butler fan, watch his facial expresson when he stoops down next to Frankie at the pet store aquarium - smouldering tenderness not often seen on Gerry's face - it's priceless!
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