• Director:   Shona Auerbach

• Writer:    Andrea Gibb
  

• Producer:    Caroline Wood

• Starring:     Emily Mortimer, Gerard Butler & Jack McElhone

• Country:      United Kingdom

• Language:      English
  

Now I must say, this is not the best movie I ever seen--but it is an emotionally stirring tale nonetheless. Dear Frankie is one of those stories about motherhood and single parenting that gives a bird's eye view of genuine affection between a mother and her son.

Lizzy (Emily Mortimer) loves her son Frankie (Jack McElhone) so much she would do anything for him--even if that meant forging letters from an imaginary parent so that her son does not feel abandoned by his father. Frankie has a real father, but he was an abusive man that caused Frankie to become deaf as a child. Frankie does not remember his real father for every month, Lizzy would write a letter, from Frankie's "dad"--each time she would buy a different postage stamp, which symbolizes the destinations his father last visited.

It so happen that one day Frankie wanted to meet the father he came to know only know from letters. His mother panicked! She had to come up with a father for Frankie so that he would not lose a bet he had with his new friend. He bet that Frankie really did not have a dad--which in turn Frankie wrote about in one of his letters to his father. So his mother inquired with her boss at the local fish and chips--and she came up with a replacement father for Frankie. Who happen to be the fierce Gerard Butler (rawr).

Lizzy agrees to pay "the stranger" (Gerard Butler) for his time with Frankie for one day. She gave him the letters to read that were sent by Frankie to his "father." He agrees. When finally meeting Frankie--he gave him a book on marine life, which is Frankie's favorite past time. His mother was also shocked at the gift. This sealed the moment in the relationship with Frankie. Because in thinking back on that moment--only his dad could have known what his favorite past time was. This was a significant point in this movie. The bonding point.

If anything--this movie is worth seeing (if only to look a Gerard Butler) it is a warm, heartfelt tale of a mother and her son.

'if not for love...then what for?'

Dear Frankie (2004).  Dir. Shona Auerbach.  IMDb.

Dear Frankie (2004). Dir. Shona Auerbach.  Miramax Films.