I Swear – 3 1/2 stars out of 4
It’s nice when a film lives up to the hype.
I feel a little late to the party with “I Swear,” the based-on-a-true-story biopic about a Scottish man’s lifelong battle with Tourette’s Syndrome. Director Kirk Jones’s film was released in the UK last year to wide acclaim, and already netted awards (as well as some controversy) at the annual BAFTAs earlier this year.
It’s just now getting its wide release in the United States, and I’m happy to report that “I Swear” is worth the wait.
The film follows the life of John Davidson, a man who began to experience the symptoms of Tourette’s Syndrome in his early teenage years. Prior to those symptoms, young John (played by Scott Ellis Watson) was living a pretty normal life, with enough skill to get some attention from soccer scouts. But the onset of various alarming ticks, including sudden neck twitches and eventually verbal outbursts, quickly upended his plans, and things just got worse as his father picked that moment to abandon his family.
Fast-forward a few years, and a now-adult John (played by Robert Aramayo) is still struggling to connect with the routines of everyday life. But things start to improve when John meets a former mental health nurse named Dottie (Maxine Peake), who eventually invites him to move in with her family.
From here, we see a long-term journey that follows John as he works to secure employment at a local rec center and pin down some semblance of a routine, but in spite of his best efforts his ticks and ill-timed outbursts regularly lead to trouble, including one encounter where an offended woman has some friends beat John so thoroughly he winds up in the hospital.
Between the film’s publicity and an opening scene that hints at the culmination of John’s journey, you get the sense that things are going to turn out OK, but “I Swear” is still a moving and at times heartbreaking journey, and a vivid way to connect to the realities of a disease that is usually viewed in two-dimensional terms.
Aside from a moving story, “I Swear’s” performances are its greatest strength, starting with Aramayo’s effective turn as Davidson. Aramayo hits just the right note to capture the eye-opening nature of Davidson’s various ticks without making the behavior cartoonish. Peake is a steadying force as Dottie, and Peter Mullan is a welcome addition as Tommy, the rec center manager who brings John into the fold. (“Harry Potter” fans might also recognize Shirley Henderson as John’s mother.)
As you might expect, “I Swear” includes a generous amount of profanity, but you might be surprised at how tame it feels in context. Given Davidson’s condition and sincerity, his expletives feel considerably less abrasive than the kind of R-rated dialogue found in more mainstream fare.
Altogether, “I Swear” is a powerful and worthwhile portrait of a man and a challenge. Hopefully by the time the US organizations are ready to dole out their awards, Jones’s effort won’t have been forgotten.
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“I Swear'” is rated R for consistent vulgar dialogue and profanity, as well as some violent sequences.