Directed By Kirk Jones

Starring – Robert Aramayo, Shirley Henderson, Maxine Peake

The Plot – True life story of John Davidson (Aramayo). Diagnosed with Tourette’s at 15, targeted as ‘insane’ by his peers, he struggled with a condition few had witnessed. Campaigning for better understanding and acceptance of the condition of Tourette’s as an adult, he finds his life’s purpose and accepted his MBE from the Queen in 2019.

Rated R for adult language throughout and some violence

I SWEAR – Official Trailer | STUDIOCANAL

POSITIVES

Arriving at a pivotal time when ignorance and insensitivity possesses our culture to ostracize anyone considered different, I Swear is the painfully honest and educationally enlightening kind of necessary gut-punch needed to bridge the gap of understanding towards the Tourette’s condition, and through Jones’ transparent direction combing through the painful everyday realities of Davidson’s experiences adjusting to such, grants us a fruitfully advantageous vantage point that should serve as the first steps in one’s quenchable thirst for a greater grasp on its immersive elements. Unlike previous films pertaining to Tourette’s that utilize it as a means of humility to cruelly demean and undermine the humanity persisting from within, Jones instead approaches depiction with a maturity and earnestness that not only intensifies the struggles of John attempting to execute even the easiest tasks that we take for granted everyday, but also a compellingly sprawling scope that utilizes society’s lack of understanding towards prematurely judging spontaneous outbursts that feel so exaggerated that they must be intentional, appraising an abundance of empathetic endearment towards our protagonist, even if the obstacles of his condition causes physically abusive moments towards other characters that immediately halt the initially lighthearted atmosphere that Jones continuously revels in. That’s not to say that I Swear constantly feels like a wet blanket in utilizing the condition to meander melodrama, as everything from the film’s hilariously upfront title, to its highly necessary R-rating for unapologetically crude dialogue, helps to articulate an uncontrollable helplessness that crafts every attempt at normalcy for the character with the kind of underlining tension that even the best action movies can’t capably conjure, such as two particular moments pertaining to John dancing with an African-American woman, or him carrying piping hot teacups that feel like they flirt with disaster in the most uncomfortable of ways. If Jones readied this story without honesty, then it would feel inauthentically scrubbed in the experiences of the character, but every detail assembled within Jones script has feels driven by the cause to outline the situational disadvantages that the character faces, all the while advocating for knowledge and understanding to inspire acceptance, and though so much of the film frantically rides the tender waves of emotionality that sees us alongside for the many highs and lows of John’s story, they’re all earned seamlessly with that slice of life humility that constantly humbles him, with an adversarial underdog kind of story that effortlessly transitions to the screen, making for an engagement that is every bit educational as it is entertaining. Beyond this, I found the nourishing dynamic between John and Dottie to be of immense value to the integrity of the narrative, particularly in its introduction at a time when the isolation factor of John’s condition opposing friends and even family, feels like a much-needed radiant light of optimism to get him and us through the coldly condemning shoulder that inflicted shame to a situation that nobody truly took the time to accurately interpret. Dottie herself is at a life-defining crossroads with her own bleakly calculated cancer diagnosis, using the last six months of her life to provide love and stability for a man cast out like a leper by society, and between the interaction of the two illustrating a mutual respect that lives and thrives on each being brought to life affectionately by the chances that their bond provides for the other, as well as a palpably resonating sincerity to their staging, it felt like the most genuine moments of the movie were in the ones that we experience with both of them together, especially within such meaningfully layered performances that truly take this film’s impact to a whole other level. Considering Robert Aramayo recently took the BAFTA for Best Lead Performance by a Male, over such strongly distinguished fellow nominees, there was an overbearing weight on his shoulders from my immense expectations, but Aramayo continuously rises to the occasion in a remarkably naturalistic execution that transcends the preconceived context of your mind witnessing an actor playing a role, and instead breeding physicality in his materializing of anxious ticks that organically churn from within. Robert’s physicality in the condition is only surpassed by his emotional grappling of the movie’s most meaningful moments, particularly those initial frustrations with his inability to perform the most simple measures tacking on an apology to ease the tension with insensitive characters. As time passes and more people get used to John’s unpredictable ticks, the apologies don’t necessarily extinguish completely, but they come from a peacefully eased place that enacts a more subdued side to John’s sensibilities, and as a result allows Aramayo a more prideful approach that sees confidence and candor grow within the air of his performance, despite an unresolved overarching loneliness in the detection of the portrayal that breeds all of the necessary empathy that you could ask of a protagonist. While Aramayo does most of the movie’s heavy lifting, he receives balance in the form of Maxine Peake’s aforementioned character, Dottie, brandishing a no-nonsense warmth and nobility to the air of her heroic distinguishment, despite Peake’s unflinching approach to character coming across as simply motherly, garnering the kind of heartwarming portrayal that stands as the measuring stick for how humanity should aim to strive for.

NEGATIVES

While I found I Swear to be a highly valuable experience meant to conjure empathy in a world so clearly void of it, I did have some problems with some aspects of the execution, such as the production values and inconsistencies of the screenplay, which feel all the more glaring as the film delves into its second hour. On the former, there’s a lack cunning articulacy behind the lens and overall presentation that leaves the film feeling anything but cinematic, particularly the drab presentation, lackadaisical editing techniques, and the blandness of wardrobe and set design, which fail to emulate any semblance of geographic distinction to the importance of this distinguished setting. It’s certainly understandable that Jones and the production chose to keep the attention firmly where it needed to be, with regards to the education attained with the material, but part of my vested intrigue towards a film’s long-term consistency lends itself to some semblance of stylistic flare that allows the director to stand out, but everything elicited texturally here feels so underwhelming that there’s never a sense of distinction to the film’s visuals, and as a result it took a bit longer than I would’ve liked to feel invested to the film, almost entirely as a result of little ambition with the filmmaking tangibles that don’t appraise a lot of beauty and vibrancy to John’s world. As for the script, I wholeheartedly applaud the scope of John’s extensive journey, as well as Jones’ desire to appraise optimism to the futuristic outlook of the condition, but there comes a point during the third act where the storytelling starts to feel like its going through the motions of sifting through a beat-for-beat outline of a Wikipedia page, instead of naturally growing the materializing of some of the conflicts, a problem that feels all the more glaringly distracting when some of the aforementioned editing practices make the conflicts feel episodic, as a result of continuous fades to black abruptly halting their growth. As a result, some vital developments come quite literally out of nowhere for John’s condition steadying itself by film’s end, with nothing attaining the kind of long-winded tension of the unpredictable factor of the movie’s first half, and while I appreciate that the movie included John’s eventual growth, it feels like a couple of necessary steps were omitted on the finished product’s editing room floor, in turn causing the pacing to finally catch up to a two hour runtime that feels a bit ambitious for the level of story that the movie is trying to tell. Finally, the film is obviously set in Scotland, so the thickly unrelenting accents do cause some disconnect with the detectability of the dialogue, particularly during an opening act where the sound mixing doesn’t feel as clearly coherent as it does during some of the later acts. Perhaps my eventual interpretation was attained as a result of spending so much time alongside these characters, but for my money it just felt like the microphones of the first few scenes were obscured in the places on set where they lacked absorbance the most, leaving me struggling a bit during those initial introductions to character where I honestly relied more upon the visuals to vividly detect just what was transpiring.

OVERALL
I Swear is an honestly accurate and earnestly sincere biopic that handles the delicacy of its sensitive subject matter with the kind of grace, intelligence, and much-appreciated humor to keep it from feeling burdened by meandering melodrama, particularly with the advantageously astonishing performance from Robert Aramayo lending so much quiet intensity and vulnerability to his candidly brave showcase. While the film lacks the kind of signature sizzle in its filmmaking to allow Kirk Jones to implement his own imprint to the texture and tangibility of this story, his tenderly sweet and educational script inspires awareness and understanding from a world so sorely lacking it, earning every inch of its awards gold by devouring a slice of life that goes down easy.

My Grade: 7.5 or B