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List Price: $29.99 | | Label: Miramax
Salesrank: 5452
Released: July 5, 2005 |
| Our Price: $19.59 |
| Used Price: $16.94 |
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MPAA Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
This touching and humorous movie has earned the raves of critics and won the hearts of audiences everywhere! To spare the feelings of her fatherless boy, Lizzie (Emily Mortimer -- Disney's THE KID) secretly authors letters from his "father" that detail seafaring adventures from around the world. But she cannot maintain this illusion forever. Torn between exposing the truth and protecting her son, Lizzie gets more than anyone bargained for when she hires a handsome stranger (Gerald Butler -- THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, LARA CROFT TOMB RAIDER: THE CRADLE OF LIFE) to play the role of a lifetime! Winner at both the Heartland Film Festival and the Seattle International Film Festival, this entertaining motion picture is sure to touch your heart!
Description of Dear Frankie:
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 Reviews:
This is a movie that's worth every penny! 
2008-11-09 - I had never heard of this movie until a few weeks ago, and can't imagine how it didn't get Oscar buzz in 2005. Maybe it did, but I sure don't remember hearing about it. If you're a fan of Gerard Butler, you know his versatility in playing different roles, but his acting in this movie outshines anything else he's done to date. You won't walk away without shedding a tear or two for the plight of this mother and child. You also won't walk away without wishing that there was a sequel! It's been a long time since I've seen a movie that left me wanting more, but this one definitely did. Grab the popcorn, sit back and relax and enjoy!
A beautiful movie
2008-11-02 - This is a beatuiful movie with a wonderful storyline that I almost wish there could be a part two. Gerry did a great job as did the other actors. Definitely worth purchasing
Almost real life... 
2008-10-25 - A nine year old boy writes and receives letters from his dad whom he surely believes is a sailor. This could be true, but unfortunately it isn't. The author of these letters is his mother who affectionately writes them. His real father had been an abusive guy so his mother went away taking her child trying to have a better living in the Scotland of the 1950's. As the boy knows the ship your father works is coming to his place, Lizzie, terrified, asks help and one of her friends helps her to hire a stranger to be the loving fake father. Gerard Butler plays this role in a sweet manner which almost convinces the lonely mother, he is for real. Lovely film for people of all ages without fantastic and unrealistic turns.
Touching Movie
2008-09-24 - This movie touchs your heart and let's you know exactly how a Mother, Child and stranger come together.
A simple and beautiful story
2008-08-26 - Dear Frankie
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.
