Shona Auerbach's directing debut shows signs of promise, but lacks a thread to tie the plots together, essential for a well-composed film. While heartfelt moments of warmth and passion crack through the surface, \Dear Frankie"" rushes the development of the relationships between its protagonists and fails to tie up its loose ends.
Frankie Morrison (Jack McElhone) is deaf and barely speaks, but has a quiet confidence about him despite his physical disabilities. He and his mother Lizzie (Emily Mortimer) left Frankie's abusive father nine years ago and moved around Scotland, avoiding his father's pursuit. Frankie, having no recollection of his father, writes him a letter every few weeks under the false impression that he courageously sails the globe in a ship called the HMS Accra.
The storyline comes into play when a classmate of Frankie's notes in a newspaper that the HMS Accra has just arrived in a Glasgow port, prompting a wager between the two boys pending the appearance of Frankie's father. What Frankie does not know is that his mother has been writing Frankie for years, developing an intricate fantasy that leaves her in a dilemma. Rather than telling Frankie the truth, Lizzie hires a stranger with no ""past, present, or future"" (Gerard Butler) to play the role of Frankie's father.
The film calls to question and flirts with the fine line between protecting and hurting the ones you love. It explores the hardships associated with poverty, loneliness and disability-made evident through powerful acting. Lizzie has pure intentions, but struggles as a single mother in the absence of a father figure, despite the help of her mother. Mortimer gives a brilliant performance, conveying warmth underscored with anxiety and uncertainty over her son. Butler shines as well, playing the seemingly cold and lonely stranger with a soft spot for Frankie.
However, Auerbach hastens the relationship between the two, and through a span of about five minutes of screen time covering less than a day, strangers are transformed into father and son. Even Frankie's need for a father figure fails to serve as credible evidence for the forced bonding.
After the second day of ""acquaintance,"" the stranger takes a liking for Lizzie as well, kissing her after a dance in which the first song we hear is ""The Macarena."" The comic-relief proves effective, because everyone knows there's nothing funnier than a group of Scots doing the Macarena. Regardless, the affection feels imposed, despite several shots of passionate glances between the two.
The film encounters many issues that lack evidence throughout the plot, almost failing to understand itself. The movie introduces many plot lines, only to drop them a short time later.
""Dear Frankie"" is a serviceable, but flawed feature. It succeeds in its somber tones and strong acting, but its lack of deeper meaning hinders the plot almost irrevocably.
