Dear Frankie
Miramax Films | Release Date: March 4, 2005 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
63
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 31 Critic Reviews
Positive:
24
Mixed:
5
Negative:
2
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
San Francisco ChronicleRuthe Stein
Wise and wondrous. Read full review
88
USA TodayClaudia Puig
An endearing, occasionally sentimental story told with depth and substance. Read full review
88
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
The bold long shot near the end of Dear Frankie allows the film to move straight as an arrow toward its emotional truth, without a single word or plot manipulation to distract us. Read full review
80
Chicago ReaderJonathan Rosenbaum
Subtle and graceful directorial debut. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterRay Bennett
The movie is filled with small moments of tenderness, insight and considerable wisdom. Read full review
80
VarietyDavid Rooney
Material that might have turned to standard dysfunctional family treacle in other hands is given stirring poignancy, warmth and emotional insight in Shona Auerbach's assured first feature. Read full review
75
Rolling StonePeter Travers
What could have been a sentimental train wreck emerges as a funny and touching portrait of three bruised people. Read full review
75
New York Daily NewsJami Bernard
It is a sweet, wonderfully acted cameo of a movie about the lengths to which a lioness will go to protect her cub. Read full review
75
Chicago TribuneRobert K. Elder
Doesn't revert to hairpin plot twists or other dramatic trickery to hook us in; Auerbach simply lets us live with her characters-which, it turns out, is reward enough. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
The film, with its painterly juxtapositions of dockside industry, green hills, and cloud-scudded sky, is full of misguided motives and fairy-tale fraud. But it rings true at heart. Read full review
75
Seattle Post-IntelligencerPaula Nechak
The film tugs at us. And we forgive it its faults because it never loses sight of what it's supposed to be even though the story has a manipulative edge and maneuvers our feelings. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeTy Burr
The movie's still shameless; the difference is you don't mind. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Rick Groen
Very well crafted and superbly acted. Whatever you may think of the idea, its execution is admirable. Read full review
75
Baltimore SunChris Kaltenbach
For anyone who has ever had to balance what the heart yearns for against what the head insists must be, this film should hit home. Read full review
75
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
The movie has been shot with love and wisdom, and its implausible premise doesn't get in the way of a sweetness and honesty too rarely seen. Read full review
75
Miami HeraldConnie Ogle
Dear Frankie is a small movie with a big soul and no easy formula for the happiness of its big-hearted characters. Read full review
75
Portland OregonianM. E. Russell
But as the story takes some surprising turns, it works like a slow infection: Patient audience members may find themselves awakening to the story in much the same way the characters awaken to their own capacities for tenderness. Read full review
70
Film ThreatRoss Williams
While the film isn’t completely perfect, director and cinematographer Shona Auerbach shows that she’s a great new filmmaking talent. Read full review
70
The A.V. ClubKeith Phipps
On its own terms, Dear Frankie works much better than it really has any right to. Auerbach tells a small, contrived story, but gives it the weight of life. Read full review
70
The New York TimesStephen Holden
"Miramax porn." The term refers to manipulative tearjerkers like Dear Frankie whose sensitive performances, along with a light dusting of grit, allow them to be marketed as art films. This one is clever enough to fool a lot of people. Read full review
70
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
Mortimer is riveting as the sympathetic but flawed Lizzie. Read full review
70
Washington PostMichael O'Sullivan
Within this overly familiar trope, there's plenty of room for small surprises, not the least of which are delightful, understated performances all around. Read full review
63
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
The end result is an unremarkable, unmemorable movie that deserves neither praise nor approbation. Read full review
63
New York PostKyle Smith
The film is soft and sticky, but it deserves a (small) audience. If you're in that peculiar kind of blue mood where you'd like to be just a bit bluer, Dear Frankie might be the right choice. Read full review
60
Los Angeles TimesCarina Chocano
Dear Frankie's surprises are few and low-key, but the story wraps up nicely. Read full review
60
Dallas ObserverBill Gallo
Happily, the director and writer Andrea Gibb treat little Frankie with as much dramatic respect as the grown-up characters, and he saves the movie from killing sweetness. Read full review
50
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
Well acted, capably directed, not as substantial as it might have been. Read full review
40
L.A. WeeklyElla Taylor
The movie’s glib trafficking in illness, death and pinched little faces to jury-rig our emotional responses (Gibb was inspired by the equally likable, equally pandering Czech film "Kolya") lost me at hello. Read full review
40
Austin ChronicleKimberley Jones
I’m all for ambiguity, but Dear Frankie’s multiple dangling threads indicate incoherent storytelling, not profundity. Read full review
30
Village VoiceJessica Winter
Somehow the U.K. film industry can always scrounge enough loose change from the cushions to foot the bill for a pre-chewed lump of sickly saltwater taffy like the mawkish Scottish-seaside postcard Dear Frankie. Read full review
16
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
A Scottish weepie of such bathos and balderdash that it deserves a drinking game in its rotten honor. Read full review
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