First-time director and cinematographer (rare combination) Shona Auerbach builds a façade of realism over an interior of mush. The title figure (Jack McElhone) is a nine-year-old deaf boy who never speaks, yet narrates the action (in an all but unintelligible Scots accent) in the form of letters to his absent Da, ostensibly away at sea. The punctual replies to these letters are actually penned by Ma (Emily Mortimer), who, in a creaky contrivance, is obliged to hire a perfect stranger (Gerard Butler, more perfect than you could dream) to impersonate Da on leave. Add this to the list of films -- Gerry, Heaven, Swept Away, Since Otar Left, La Petite Lili -- that procure poignance through the use of the same Arvo Pärt piece, "Spiegel im Spiegel." It's gotten a little ridiculous. Not even Pachelbel's Canon has had a heavier workout in a shorter time. (2004) — Duncan Shepherd
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