Spare a thought for whoever has to give this wildly obscenity-strewn biopic a rating.
Not since Ken Loach’s cheery whisky heist caper The Angel’s Share got hit with a 15 certificate for dropping one too many ‘aggressive “c*nts”’ has there been such a disparity between intent and delivery in a screenplay. Here, writer-director Kirk Jones presides over a Tourette’s Syndrome (TS) story with a potty mouth but not a mean-spirited bone in its body. It’s a ‘PG’ yarn with an ‘18’ gob.
Unlike, say, Rain Man, which sidelined and misrepresented the neurodiversity at its centre, the ’90s-set I Swear ushers you right into the tormented headspace of young Scotsman John Davidson as he copes with a neurological condition that leaves him with uncontrollable tics and sees him ostracised from an uncomprehending society, and even his own family.
Played as a bubbly 13-year-old in ’90s Galashiels by newcomer Scott Ellis Watson and a more circumspect twentysomething by The Rings of Power’s Robert Aramayo – both delivering terrific, likeable performances – I Swear charts the onset of Davidson’s condition to an adulthood in a kind of self-imposed isolation. But it opens with him collecting an MBE from the Queen for his pioneering educational work on TS, an upbeat framing device to hold onto as the story flashes back to a life with some heartbreaking lows.
It’s a ‘PG’ yarn with an ‘18’ gob
Whether getting expelled from school for dropping a c-bomb on his headmaster, being shunned by his family, having accidental run-ins with the police, or involuntarily punching his supportive employer (Peter Mullan) in the groin, I Swear is about a life filled with unintended consequences (because nobody dick-punches Peter Mullan deliberately.) It often plays like an absurdist comedy – wait until Davidson tries to keep his blackjack hand to himself – with an unexpected line in jump shocks as he barks sudden insults at strangers.
Writer-director Jones (Nanny McPhee, Waking Ned) comes from a comedy background, and rather than succumb to kitchen-sink glumness, he keeps the tone warm and hopeful. The supporting cast is pretty stellar too, with Shirley Henderson perfect as Davidson’s brittle mother, and Maxine Peake the film’s second heartbeat as the surrogate mum who takes him in. Mullan is a treat, too, as the long-suffering caretaker who hires Davidson and learns to live with his new colleague’s outbursts (‘I spunked in your tea!’).
For those unversed in the nature of Tourette’s and the strain of living with it, I Swear is a perfect intro. Empathetic, funny and myth-busting – there are 300,000 children and adults living with TS in the UK alone whose condition will be better understood for this film – it gives you permission to laugh at the situation while feeling only compassion for the man.
In UK and Ireland cinemas Fri Oct 10.
Head to Tourette’s Action for more information on Tourette’s Syndrome.