Single mother Lizzie (Emily Mortimer), her deaf nine-year-old son Frankie (Jack McElhone), and her gruff chain-smoking mom Nell (Mary Riggans), are on the run from Lizzie’s mysterious abusive hubby. As the film opens they move to a new Glasgow address. Frankie knows nothing about his father’s violent history; he receives bogus letters written by mom who has dad as a petty officer aboard the H.M.S. Accra. The sensitive lad keeps a wall map marking the route of the Accra, and excels in geography. Things come to a head when the ship is scheduled to make a quick stopover in Glasgow and the lad expects to see his dad for the first time. Mom visits a pub by the harbor to meet a man to pose as her son’s father for pay. When that fails, Marie (Sharon Small), a sharp-eyed woman who runs a local fish and chips shop, comes to the rescue by having her hunky brother, known as the Stranger (Gerard Butler, acted in “The Phantom of the Opera”), show up at her doorstep and agree to pose as the lad’s father. He’s actually a member of the Accra’s crew, and soon proves to be a superdad who instantly bonds with the lad. The Stranger also has an eye for mom as the two discretely scope each other out and come close to kissing.