Dear Frankie (DVD)

Young single mother Lizzie is so afraid of her abusive ex-husband that she continually moves around the country with her nine year-old son. In order to protect him from the truth, she tells Frankie that his dad is away at sea and sends him letters in the guise of his father. But when she learns the ship he’s supposed to be working on is due to dock, she threatens to be exposed. So she hires a handsome stranger to pose as Frankie’s dad, never realising ...
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“Dear Frankie” Shona Auerbach’s feature debut and she shows a firm hand with what could have been a terribly mawkish script. Her direction is spare and underplays the more emotionally manipulative aspects of the film, such as Frankie’s deafness. True, it is a sentimental film but it never over-eggs the pudding, thanks largely to the restrained performances Auerbach has teased out of her cast. The performances of the child actors in particular ... more

Young single mother Lizzie is so afraid of her abusive ex-husband that she continually moves around the country with her nine year-old son. In order to protect him from the truth, she tells Frankie that his dad is away at sea and sends him letters in the guise of his father. But when she learns the ship he’s supposed to be working on is due to dock, she threatens to be exposed. So she hires a handsome stranger to pose as Frankie’s dad, never realising that he will change the dynamic of the family forever.

“Dear Frankie” Shona Auerbach’s feature debut and she shows a firm hand with what could have been a terribly mawkish script. Her direction is spare and underplays the more emotionally manipulative aspects of the film, such as Frankie’s deafness. True, it is a sentimental film but it never over-eggs the pudding, thanks largely to the restrained performances Auerbach has teased out of her cast. The performances of the child actors in particular are very naturalistic and a lot is conveyed through close-ups and silence. Much of the absence of sound is due to Frankie’s hearing impairment, but the silence extends to other characters who are not similarly afflicted and to the sparing use of music on the soundtrack. In fact the only time we really hear Frankie is when (like his mother) we are privy to his letters, which are read in voice-over. It’s not a terribly original device, but it’s simple and easy to relate to. The whole film has a kind of cinema verité feel to it, using real locations and natural light and sound. As a result the film feels like no more than the sum of its parts. It is a small, low-budget British independent film and it never pretends to be anything else. Ultimately it is this lack of pretension that endears the film to its audience, but the lack of ambition makes it feel more like a Sunday afternoon television programme than a big screen outing.

Screenwriter Andrea Gibb has written a script that focusses on the mother-son dynamic in a broken family. Her characters are fragile, with inner reserves of strength that manifest themselves in a desire to keep people away so they don’t get hurt. So Lizzie fights Frankie’s corner even when it doesn’t need to be fought and her mother hides away from the world, always checking the obituaries to see if her daughter’s ex has finally died. Frankie is the most resilient of the characters, standing his ground with a quiet dignity you wouldn’t expect from a nine year-old. There is some emotional button-pushing on show, particularly towards the end, but it stops short of being predictable allowing for some ambiguity come the finale.

Emily Mortimer plays Lizzie with a doe-eyed fragility that sits well with the part. She has the once-bitten-twice-shy air of a woman who has been hurt before, ever ready to brush off attempts at friendship or anything more serious. That being said there is a spark about her that manifests itself in a fierce protective streak towards her son and her secrets; note her reactions when she finds Frankie and friend going through her wardrobe. Her Scottish accent’s not bad either.

I’m not a great fan of Gerard Butler – he’s got a crap agent for one thing, who only seems to get him roles in rubbish like “Timeline” and “Tomb raider 2”. He’s also one of those actors that seems to struggle if he needs to produce more than one emotion per film. He appears to be getting better. As the stranger Lizzie hires to stand in for Frankie’s dad, he starts off as his usual impassive self, (visibly discomfited by close physical contact with his young co-star) but slowly warms to the other characters and the audience. Obviously we always question why he’s doing this but his intentions feel honourable throughout.

Jack McElhone who plays Frankie is a natural and naturalistic performer, so didn’t induce the same gag reflex as I often get from British child actors. He doesn’t seem to be aware of the camera and that’s a good thing. Thankfully he has an expressive face, which is important for a character that rarely speaks, but he doesn’t do the usual cow-eyed silent child trick. Also impressive is young Sean Brown, who plays the spiteful Ricky Munroe; the kind of kid always ready to make trouble for others. Mary Riggans mines most of the natural comedy in the film in her role as Lizzie’s mother Nell. She has very good timing and the heart of a true battleaxe lurking under her skin. She is the only person allowed to question Lizzie’s deception, although her fears for her daughter and grandson are clear for all to see in her chain-smoking neurosis and constant worrying.

The soundtrack to the film is sparse, but incorporates a number of musical styles. The score consists mainly of lively piano music by Alex Heffes that neither overpowers nor adds anything tangible to the film. A particularly irritating whiny indie-folk ballad accompanies one of Lizzie’s trips into Glasgow, attempting to inject some sense of yearning into the proceedings but serving only to annoy the viewer. There are also a number of Scottish folk songs that merely reinforce the geographical location of the film.

This is a gentle family drama that will appeal to those that like nice films where nothing of global importance happens, the characters are well-drawn and acted, there’s no sex or swearing to speak of and there’s a hopeful though ambiguous ending. It’s not a life-changing movie and it won’t make anybody’s career, but it’s a pleasant enough way to spend just over an hour-and-a-half of a wet Sunday afternoon if there’s nothing on the telly. Don’t spend your money on it at the cinema, wait till it’s on video and you can watch it with a cup of hot chocolate and the family pet on your lap (assuming the family pet isn’t a goldfish or other aquatic life-form – that would be silly).
 

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