The story as a whole may not completely hold up, but the characterizations created have depth and importance.
Comment
03/07/05
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Dear Frankie (2005)
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Tomatometer
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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
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Reviews for Dear Frankie
A film that will lose nothing on the small screen. Unless you need a big-screen dose of sentiment with a Scottish accent, wait for the DVD.
03/04/05
Auerbach has resurrected Butler's career, buried in the catacombs of a Parisian opera house, and gotten an unforgettable performance from Mortimer.
03/04/05
Top CriticUnfortunately, Dear Frankie isn't content to just tug at our heartstrings. It has to yank at them, too.
03/04/05
Top CriticIt is a sweet, wonderfully acted cameo of a movie about the lengths to which a lioness will go to protect her cub.
03/04/05
Top CriticThe film is soft and sticky, but it deserves a (small) audience.
03/04/05
Top CriticUnusually poignant.
03/04/05
The heavy Scottish burr might keep younger audiences from fully following the story, but this heart-tugger is perfect for teenagers on up.
03/04/05
It poses itself as a feel-good movie. As a result, it ignores the weight its own crimes and therefore feels utterly clueless.
03/04/05
a lovely, somewhat melancholy little film with a powerful ending and a lingering mood of wistfulness
03/04/05
Dear Frankie isn't a good film, but it is a nice little movie...[about] what can happen when people become the conscious artists of their own lives.
03/04/05
Sometimes no amount of good acting can make a film hold your interest.
03/03/05
A well-meaning, engaging story that fits perfectly into the mold of the dreary-but-uplifting British drama.
03/03/05
Emotional responses are in keeping with the characterizations, and well-written dialogue... helps sustain a reality that the turns of plot constantly threaten.
03/03/05
Dear Frankie's surprises are few and low-key, but the story wraps up nicely.
03/03/05
Top CriticA fraudulent yarn riddled with plot holes and improbabilities and topped by a cynical final twist that pulls the rug out from under the story.
03/03/05
Top CriticWell acted, capably directed, not as substantial as it might have been.
03/03/05
Dear Frankie is a cinematic definition of mediocrity.
03/03/05
Top CriticThe movie's glib trafficking in illness, death and pinched little faces to jury-rig our emotional responses ... lost me at hello.
03/03/05
The pat emotions contradict the lazily inconclusive life-goes-on ending, and the moral seems to be that kids just want to be lied to.
03/03/05
Latest 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...
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