Gerard Butler has an apology waiting for anyone unfortunate enough to have seen “P.S. I Love You.”
It’s the Irish drama “Dear Frankie,” and while it boasts a twist ending which doesn’t make a lick of sense, it’s got its heart smack dab in the right place.
And Hilary Swank is nowhere in sight.
“Dear Frankie” also involves a series of emotionally charged letters, but don’t let that scare you off.
The film stars Emily Mortimer as a single mum named Lizzie who lives with her deaf son, Frankie (Jack McElhone), and her chain-smoking ma (Mary Riggans) in a flat in Greenock, Scotland.
Lizzie has been writing letters to her son for years and signing Frankie’s father’s name to them. Dad is nowhere in the picture, but Lizzie can’t bear the thought of her child not having a semblance of a father figure.
Her fictional letters come back to haunt her when the ship she said the father serves on is set to dock in Glenock. So rather than tell Frankie the truth, she decides to hire a local man (Butler) to pretend to be the boy’s dad.
A film like “Dear Frankie” would collapse under its own maudlin weight if not for the benefit of grounded performances where it counts. And let’s start with young Jack McElhone who radiates decency without falling into any cutesy tics.
Mortimer is rock solid, as always, and Butler shows just what he can do with his burly charisma when it’s put to proper use. But it’s the way director Shona Auerbach captures the small town feel of Greenock, from its local eateries to the grayed out landscapes, that makes “Dear Frankie” more than just a sentimental post card of a picture.
The spell is so assured that you won’t even mind the hackneyed reveal regarding Frankie’s actual father, or a last-minute secret that should have stayed that way.
(Photo: Gerard Butler pretends to be the father of a deaf child (Jack McElhone) in “Dear Frankie.”)
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
I’ve been trying to rent this since GB talked it up as one of his favorite experiences. It’s not out there unless you are netflix I guess.
please email me here re this movie i just say it today in taiwan on tv. danbloom AT gmail DOT com
loved it. 25 million stars!
Did you know this? “At the end of the movie, Marie tells Lizzie that the man, the sailor who was hired to pretend to be the father, was her brother.”
YES, most reviewers missed that. Mist that. Lovely movie. saw it a 5 am