A wrenchingly sweet and beautifully acted film that keeps surprising us -- it never takes us where we think it's going, but always where we want to go.
Comment
03/11/05
Rate this Movie 
Dear Frankie (2005)
80
%
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work
Reviews Counted:106
Fresh:85
Rotten:21
Average Rating:6.8/10
Consensus: Dear Frankie is a small, good-hearted film with fine performances.
Theatrical Release:Mar 4, 2005 Limited
Box Office: $1,317,790
Synopsis: DEAR FRANKIE is a heartwarming and often humorous tale of nine year-old Frankie and his mom, Lizzie, who have been on the move ever since he can remember. To protect her son from the truth, Lizzie... [More]
Starring: Emily Mortimer, Gerard Butler, Sharon Small, Jack McElhone
Director: Shona Aeurbach
Get This Movie
Rent DVD
Click on the "ADD" button to put this movie into your Netflix queue.
Buy DVD
Reviews for Dear Frankie
It quietly builds empathy though the credibility of its central relationships.
03/11/05
The sort of movie that deserves every heart it wins, and it will win many.
03/11/05
For all its sentimental superficiality, Dear Frankie is emotionally affecting.
03/11/05
Top CriticThis sounds, I know, like the plot of a melodramatic tearjerker, but the filmmakers work close to the bone, finding emotional truth in hard, lonely lives.
03/11/05
Top CriticThis wee Scottish drama takes a mawkish premise and, by playing its cards close to the vest, imbues it with quiet, careworn dignity.
03/11/05
Director Shona Auerbach never lets things get out of hand and keeps the action contained and intimate. As a result, the film tugs at us.
03/10/05
An endearing, occasionally sentimental story told with depth and substance.
03/10/05
The premise ... is enough to make the wary reach for the insulin.
03/10/05
One false note from actors or director, and the movie would collapse under the weight of fulfilling too many wishes. But it stays afloat with grace and even charm.
03/10/05
Top CriticIt rings true at heart.
03/10/05
Both Mortimer and McElhone stitch together this carefully modulated little character piece, with McElhone shining particularly bright as Frankie.
03/10/05
Dear Frankie never quite overcomes its narrative flaws, however well intentioned they might be.
03/10/05
Narrative improbabilities aren’t for everyone but they go down easily with the proverbial grain of salt.
03/09/05
A Scottish weepie of such bathos and balderdash that it deserves a drinking game in its rotten honor: Bend an elbow every time you've underestimated how low screenwriter Andrea Gibb and director Shona Auerbach will go to wring a tear.
03/09/05
Top CriticA nicely told family drama.
03/08/05
I adored Frankie, his mum, and his movie... and if you have to have a fake dad, you couldn't ask for somebody better than Gerald Butler.
03/08/05
Dear Frankie is a fresh faced film about hope and belief that stirs your heart without having it needlessly wrung out
03/08/05
[C]reates a heartbreaking kind of suspense that leaves you aching for everyone...
03/07/05
It’s a terrific film.
03/07/05
Top CriticLatest News for Dear Frankie
June 03, 2005:
Woody Allen Makes a "Match" With DreamWorks
Woody Allen's well-received entry into the Cannes Film Festival, "Match Point," has been snatched up by DreamWorks Pictures for a cool $4 million. Described as much... More...
RT On Current TV
What’s Hot On RT
Fresh Links
Featured
MSN's Year in Review 
Take a look at MSN's choices for the Top 10 films of 2009.
Moviefone's Year End Movie Poll
What were your favorites? Least favorites? The funniest and scariest? Moviefone wants to know!
Tarantino's Characters
Hollywood.com explores why QT's characters resonate so well with audiences.
Top 10 Movies of 2009
TIME chimes in with their own list of the best films released this year.
Top 20 of the Decade
Click through to see which movies BuzzSugar placed in their Best-of-Decade list!
Promos
Follow RT on Twitter
Get the latest Tomatometer updates on upcoming movies!
IGN RSS Feeds