I SWEAR Reviewed by GREG KING
Director: Kirk Jones
Stars: Robert Aramayo, Shirley Henderson, Maxine Peake, Peter Mullan, Scott Ellis Watson, Steven Cree, David Carlyle, Francesco Piacentini-Smith.
This inspiring and enjoyable but bittersweet Scottish biopic is based on the story of John Davidson, a young boy you developed Tourette Syndrome as a teenager in the 1980s and later became an activist enlightening people to the disease. At that time little was known about the disorder, which was characterised by tics, uncontrollable body spasms, spitting and involuntary swearing. It’s the kind of disease that could have easily been the subject of a saccharine telemovie of the week in the 80s.
I Swear opens in the small Scottish village of Galashiels 1993. John’s condition led to him being bullied at school and regularly punished by the school’s principal. It also cost him a chance to play soccer in a professional capacity after a scout observed his behaviour and poor performance at a practice match. His condition even put stress on his parent’s relationship and led to their separation. The local community also didn’t understand the condition and John was largely ostracised.
John was raised by his mother Heather (Shirley Henderson, from Trainspotting, etc) who had little understanding of John’s condition and seems at a loss in trying to deal with him. She often finds herself embarrassed and uncomfortable in his presence in public. Upset and feeling helpless John attempts to drown himself but is rescued and hospitalised.
The film then jumps ahead to 1996 where the adult John (played by Robert Aramayo in his BAFTA award winning performance) is being medicated in an effort to control his condition. He is still living with Heather, but there is tension within the house and she is not coping well. Then John reconnects with Murray a former school friend. Murray invites John to his house where his mother Dottie (Maxine Peake, from Funny Cow, etc), a mental health nurse who understands John’s condition. She invites him to spend time at their house, much to Heather’s consternation.
Dottie helps John land a job working at the local community centre run by Tommy Trotter (Peter Mullan, from Ken Loach’s My Name Is Joe, etc). Tommy encourages John to educate people about Tourette’s, and he gives talks at schools and police stations to raise awareness and broaden people’s understanding of the condition. As a result he was presented with an award by the Queen for his work in the community. The support of people like Dorothy and Tommy helped change the course of John’s life.
I Swear was written and directed by British filmmaker Kirk Jones (the delightful comedy Waking Ned Devine, etc), who has drawn upon the 1989 television documentary John’s Not Mad to shape this uplifting and inspiring film. His approach is sympathetic and compassionate, and he suffuses the material with some nice touches of humour. Jones doesn’t sugar coat the effects of the disease, and a couple of scenes are actually quite confronting. Jones has included many of the tropes of the feel good movie, which add to the emotional impact.
Making his film debut Scott Ellis Watson plays the teenaged John Davidson and delivers a solid performance in an emotionally demanding role. But the film certainly belongs to Aramayo who immerses himself in the challenging role. He is impressive in capturing Davidson’s suffering, depicting the tics and body spasms effectively and he portrays his sense of resilience, vulnerability, and optimism. Henderson is good as John’s mother, and she suffuses her with a somewhat cold exterior. Peake is excellent as the compassionate and understanding Dottie and infuses her performance with genuine warmth. It is nice to see Mullan, who is often cast in gritty roles, play a more sympathetic performance as the easy-going and supportive Tommy. Jones has even populated the film with real life Tourette’s sufferers in small roles, which adds authenticity to the material.
As the end credits play out Jones has included footage of the real John Davidson in a few moments that were recreated for the film, and there is also a message about the importance of raising social awareness of the condition. A feel-good and uplifting crowd pleaser, I Swear is well worth watching.
★★★★
