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Dear Frankie

2004, Movie, PG-13, 102 mins

Dear Frankie: Review

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An adorable deaf child yearning for his missing father. A protective single mother with a secret. A salty grandmother who knows best. In the wrong hands, these elements could have added up to a maudlin mess, but director/cinematographer Shona Auerbachand writer Andrea Gibb know most audiences need something more than just a good cry. For the umpteenth time since 9-year-old Frankie (Jack McElhone) was born, Lizzie Morrison (Emily Mortimer) and her mother, Nell (Mary Riggans), have packed up their few belongings and moved to another town. This time, however, they've moved to the port city of Glasgow and Frankie, who lost his hearing when he was very young, couldn't be happier. He's fascinated by anything to do with the sea because his father, Davey Morrison, is a petty officer who travels the world on a large ship named the Acca. Though father and son haven't seen each other since Frankie was a baby, they keep in close contact through the letters Frankie sends to a post office box. Or so Frankie thinks: The truth of the matter is that Lizzie left Davey years before and made up the whole story about her husband being a sailor to protect her son from an ugly truth about his father. It's Lizzie who collects Frankie's letters from the P.O. box, then writes back as Davey. Nell thinks it's time for Frankie to know the truth, but Lizzie isn't so sure that she can bring herself to wreck her son's fantasy. When one of Frankie's new school friends (Sean Brown) shows Frankie a newspaper clipping announcing the arrival of a real ship named the Acca, Lizzie realizes that she must do something. But instead of the truth, she opts for an even more complicated lie. Marie (Sharon Small), a cheery chip-shop proprietor, arranges for Lizzie to hire a complete stranger (Gerard Butler) to pose as Frankie's dad — a deception that has unexpected results. Auerbach and Gibb hold off on revealing the details of Lizzie's past with Davey and use the mystery to keep the story moving. Ultimately, there are no big revelations. But Mortimer is riveting as the sympathetic but flawed Lizzie, who, for the best possible reasons, is engaged in some seriously questionable parenting. Young McElhone, meanwhile, is a charmer and does a great job with virtually no dialogue. The heavy Scottish burr might keep younger audiences from fully following the story, but this heart-tugger is perfect for teenagers on up. leave a comment --Ken Fox
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