WasAnnon Slow pace in the most part of the movie.

Raetsonwe Redundant and unnecessary.

Intcatinfo A Masterpiece!

Sharkflei Your blood may run cold, but you now find yourself pinioned to the story.

NateWatchesCoolMovies Dear Frankie is a sad yet life affirming little modern fairytale set on the evocative Scottish coastal region, in a small fishing village home to many trawlers and vessels which are always coming or going. This is the place that Lizzie (Emily Mortimer) has chosen to raise her young son Frankie (Jack Mcelhone). The one thing missing is a father, who has been missing ever since he was born. Filled with love and a need for Frankie to know at least who he was, she writes him letters as if she were his dad, telling him tales of life at sea and corresponding with him for some years. As he gets older she wishes he could have met him at some point, and comes up with a slightly strange plan. She meets a Stranger (Gerard Butler) in town, who is a sailor himself, and hires him to pose as Frankie's father, and spend some time with him. Butler agrees, but it's clear he hasn't spent much time around kids in his life, and the meeting is awkward at first. Soon they get on well enough, which pleases Lizzie and is good for Frankie. Still, the issue remains that the Stranger is not Frankie's real father and Lizzie knows this, torn between the cathartic interaction she sees for her son, and the facts that she knows to be true. Mortimer is sorrowful and harbours clear hurt and loneliness, the reaching out she does to Butler as much for herself as it is for Frankie. Butler starts off charming and be used by the proposition, until he realizes the gravity of the situation he is in and learns so,etching about himself that was dormant in his life until he met Lizzie and Frankie. The human relationships are explored tenderly and with patient reverence that ebbs and flows with the English Channel tides. Beautiful stuff.

maxpuppydaddy Despite the negative reviews seen posted here by folks who might not have their expectations in proper alignment for what this movie was trying to "say" about the foibles, flaws, hopes, and joy in all of us...........this movie hits many perfect notes about the true human condition that links us all. I am a classic movie aficionado.....as well as a contemporary movie buff and enthusiast...but I am the farthest from a critic or movie "snob" as one can possibly be. But....this little gem hit me so hard between the gut and the heart that it has been one of the very, very few movies that I've insisted those closest to me must watch. There is at least one superlative and quite detailed positive "10 star" review already posted here; a reviewer that nailed what this movie "is about"....and that reviewer quite succinctly described why "Dear Frankie" is a movie that should be part of your collection as a treasure to be shared with your family and loved ones, so I will sum up my $.02 by only saying.......if you've ever been hurt, or loved, or been abused, betrayed, or left all alone to face the ugly, hard aspects of normal life...or have lost your desire and your hope for a true love.....or have truly loved a child......quite simply, if you are a normal human being with a heart capable of the feeling the broadest, deepest, enduring love and the abysmal, horrific depths of human despair - this movie will touch you in a place that almost no movies do. This movie is unique, frank, real, and remarkable.

cindy-wolff1 I came to this movie with low expectations. The plot felt contrived. I've never been happier to be wrong. I am absolutely stunned by the beauty of this movie. Every single actor carried his or her part with heartbreaking brilliance. Gerard Butler never seems to get the credit or award nominations he deserves. His nuanced stranger is easy to believe. He's a generous actor who never steals the scene but instead brings a stillness and grace that make the other actors shine. Not that he disappears. His beauty is impossible not to watch. His time with Frankie is fills your heart because you know Frankie's is filled. I didn't want the ending to be sad and if my imagination is right, it isn't. There was hope for a future that seemed implausible. I've always believed the best movies are the small ones that don't cost millions and don't require all the stunts and CGI. This will be added to the collection of movies I watch over and over.

sddavis63 This movie could have taken a number of different directions. Fortunately, it took the right one, and the end result was a very touching movie that challenges the viewer to reflect upon the importance of family and what family represents. Frankie is a 9 year old deaf boy being raised by a single mother, who is basically on the run from Frankie's abusive father. Since she doesn't want to tell Frankie the truth about his father, she concocts a story about his dad being part of a ship's crew and writes letters to him posing as his father. You know from the start that the deception is going to come back to haunt her, and it does so when a ship of the same name as the one she made up docks in town and Frankie assumes his dad will be on it. Still unable to tell him the truth, she hires a man to pose as Frankie's dad while the ship is in the harbour.As I said, the movie could have gone in a lot of directions. It could have turned into a sappy romance between Frankie's mom and his pretend dad, but it didn't. Although they clearly developed feelings for each other, it was left as an open question whether anything more actually developed between them. It could have turned into a happy ending reconciliation movie, when Frankie's real dad pops up partway through the movie, dying and wanting to see his son, but it didn't. It could have turned into a moral statement about the evils of Frankie's mom's deception, but it didn't. It was a story about very real people living in a very difficult situation and trying their best to do the right thing, even if sometimes it arguably wasn't the right thing. It was an interesting movie from beginning to end, well written and well acted with characters that you can empathize with from the start. I have to say that the British accents are very strong and there are times when it's difficult for a North American to follow the dialogue. I saw this on TV; I understand the DVD version actually has subtitles. In this case they would have sometimes come in handy. That aside, however, this is a very impressive story indeed. 7/10