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It’s one of the unfortunate truths of modern cinema that the least well-made
movies, the ones devoid of any idea that may provoke thought (all the better not to upset
the casual American moviegoer), are the ones playing by the barrel-load at every corner
multiplex—while the smaller movies, the ones with real heart and soul, are the ones that
never seem to be “now playing at a theater near you.” These movies only play in smaller
venues, requiring you to drive a ways to find them. But when you do, very often you’ll
find yourself rewarded with a true cinematic gem, a diamond in the
rough.
Dear Frankie is just such a movie. It tells the story of a
broken but resilient family in Scotland. A young deaf boy, named Frankie (Jack McElhone)
lives with his mother, Lizzie (Emily Mortimer), and his grandmother, Nell. The film
begins with them moving to the town of Glasgow. Frankie’s birth father is not in the
picture (We learn later that he was abusive, and his abuse caused Frankie’s deafness. As
Lizzie puts it, it was “a gift from his dad.”), but
Lizzie, having never wanted to
explain to her son about his father and about the abuse he was too young to remember, has
created an elaborate story to explain away the absence. Frankie’s dad, he’s told, is a
sailor on a ship that’s always traveling somewhere far off in the world. Frankie’s
letters to his father are intercepted by Lizzie, who writes back, pretending to be the
perpetually sailing dad.
All is proceeding as it always has when news
comes that a ship bearing the exact name of the one Frankie believes his father is on
will be arriving in the town’s port. Desperate to keep her charade going, Lizzie decides
to hire a man to become Frankie’s dad for a day. The man she hires (Gerard Butler) is
never given a name and is credited in the film only as The Stranger. He comes, per
Lizzie's request, with no past, present, or future, and it is with his arrival,
about
halfway through the film, that things really kick off.
The joy of
this movie is that it doesn’t necessarily go where you think it will, and it doesn’t tell
you what to think. It invites you to make your own judgments about the characters’
actions, or lack of actions. Even the father avoids becoming the one-note stereotype
that a big-budget Hollywood film would undoubtedly make him. This is a movie that revels
in quiet moments, in little looks, and small touches. It’s a movie where just a hug from
one character to another can contain a hundred emotions. If you enjoy discovering the
little films that exist off the beaten path, and you can find Dear Frankie playing
at any theater near you, even if it’s a bit farther than that corner multiplex, you’ll
find a wonderful movie that’s well worth your time.
Ed. Note: To
see if Dear Frankie is playing in a theater near you, visit Amazon.com.
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