\n\tEarnest in its mission to explain to audiences what it\u2019s like to have Tourette Syndrome, the neurological disorder that causes uncontrolled movements and verbal outbursts, Scotland-set biopic I Swear inevitably has the didactic quality of one those old made-for-TV dramas about, say, people with immune system diseases (The Boy in the Plastic Bubble), teen alcoholism (Sarah T. \u2013 Portrait of a Teenage Alcoholic) or dissociative identity disorder (Sybil). However, I Swear is also generously sprinkled with moments of humor, not least about the syndrome\u2019s inherent potential for embarrassment given the subject\u2019s tendency to cuss and utter almost subconscious thoughts involuntarily. <\/p>\n
\n\tThe film actually opens with its subject, campaigner and educator John Davidson (played by Robert Aramayo) going to a ceremony where he\u2019s to be awarded an MBE from the late Queen Elizabeth. Unfortunately, he\u2019s literally unable to stop himself from shouting \u201cFuck the Queen!\u201d on entering the silent room. Oops.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\tI Swear\t\t<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\tThe Bottom Line<\/p>\n
\tSticks likably to a tried-and-tested formula.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\tVenue: <\/strong>Toronto International Film Festival (Centrepiece) \n\tOf course, given that the film is set mostly in the 1980s and 90s when Tourette was barely understood, we see how the condition often got Davidson into trouble, sometimes with the law and sometimes with people who simply took offense, couldn\u2019t be mollified by his attempts to explain and reacted violently. Yet Davidson\u2019s essential likability shines through, thanks in part to Aramayo\u2019s endearing, guileless performance and in part to writer-director Kirk Jones\u2019 machine-tooled script, clearly fact-checked and vetted by the film\u2019s exec producer, the actual John Davidson himself. <\/p>\n \n\tSimilarly, the package also gains a lot from the persuasive, empathic performances from veteran players Maxine Peake, Shirley Henderson and Peter Mullan. With a little luck and a fair wind behind it, it could catch the interest of award-bestowing bodies, in the U.K. especially, who love this kind of inclusive, high-minded, public-service storytelling.<\/p>\n \n\tDoggedly conventional in structure, I Swear sticks to the tried-and-tested biopic formula by opening with that aforementioned scene with the Queen, circa 2019, and then flashing back to where the story properly starts, then plowing on from there chronologically. So we go back to the mid-1980s when John (played as a young teen by Scott Ellis Watson) seemed like a perfectly ordinary 13-year-old, growing up in the town of Galashiels in the Borders region of Scotland. The eldest and the only boy, John is the apple of his working-class father\u2019s (Steven Cree) eye, who has hopes John\u2019s skills as a soccer goalie may get him a place on a professional team\u2019s youth squad. <\/p>\n
Cast: <\/strong>Robert Aramayo, Maxine Peake, Shirley Henderson, Peter Mullan
Director\/screenwriter: <\/strong>Kirk Jones
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t2 hours 1 minute\n\t\t<\/p>\n