I read Todd Douglass Jr.'s DVD review of Dear Frankie at http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/read.php?ID=16706 and...

Its sad to see "Phantom of the Opera" among one of Gerard's lowlights. I thought both he and the movie were excellent.

"Dear Frankie" is one of my favorite movies of this year, and definitley among the best of the genre. Its very subtle and surprisingly touching, and like the reviewer mentioned, the acting is especially strong. Emily, Gerard, and Jack are really at the heart of this small film. Had any one of them failed however, so would've the movie.

I just felt that Gerard was infinitely better with his role as the stranger than any other character he has played before, in my opinion this is his best work. Phantom of the Opera is one of my all time favorite musicals, so maybe I just have a hard time picturing the Phantom being played by anyone other than Michael Crawford.

Either way, thanks for the comments on the review and I'm glad you enjoyed the movie!

-Todd

"Phantom" is my favorite musical as well, its also one of my favorite movies. Gerard was slightly miscast for the role of the Phantom, mainly due to his vocal limitations, but I thought his performance was nonetheless powerful. I've seen the show five times on Broadway: so far Gerard is my second favorite, just next to Gary Mauer. I unfortunatley never had the oppurtunity to see Michael Crawford.

The main reason I love the film though is because of Emmy Rossum: she was born to play the role of Christine and I think her vocal and acting performance really brought the entire production up a notch.

Sorry! Didn't mean to convert this to another "Phantom" forum! I do agree though that "Dear Frankie" is probably Gerard's best performance yet.