If, deep down, youre that little bit mushy and delicate, then you should get your box of hankies at the ready. In fact, you might end up needing them even if youre not, because Dear Frankie is quite possibly one of the most touching, heart-breaking films Ive ever seen. My guessing is it would have even renowned strongman Geoff Capes crying like a girlie (albeit a girlie with arms like two massive logs and a beard like a rhododendron).
This Scotland-set drama stars the always-wonderful Emily Mortimer as Lizzie, a single mum whos been keeping an absolute whopper of a secret from 9-year-old son Frankie (Jack McElhone). With dad no longer on the scene, shes been pretending hes off around the world working as a jolly sailor, and has been keeping up an elaborate ruse involving taking all of the kids numerous letters and writing back to him herself. But it looks like the jig could be up when the HMS Accra the ship shes been claiming Popsy is aboard pulls up at the local harbour and poor wee Frankie thinks hes finally going to get to meet up with his dad. So does our Lizzie finally tell him the truth? Nah! Why do that when you can hire a complete stranger (Gerard Butler) to pretend to be Daddy Dearest?
Andrea Gibbs touching screenplay and Shona Auerbachs unobtrusive direction combine with some marvellously low-key and understated performances to produce one of the real gems of 2004. Sure, it deliberately goes for the heart-strings, and its often the case with such films that they just end up feeling crass and manipulative but theres a really genuine feeling to this one. It takes its time, it gets its story across effectively, and it has every bit as much impact as all of those involved could have hoped for. Watch it without Kleenex at your peril.