 In Scotland, Lizzie (Emily Mortimer) is constantly moving from town to town with her nine year old son Frankie (Jack McElhone) and her mother Nell (Mary Riggans) escaping from her husband. Frankie is a very intelligent deaf boy, and the protective Lizzie invented that his father is a sailor of the vessel "ACCRA", traveling though the most different countries and permanently writing to Frankie, telling his adventures. Frankie tracks the route of the vessel in a map, and when the vessel is scheduled to arrive in their coastal town, Lizzie decides to hire a stranger (Gerard Butler) to act as if he were Frankie s father for one day.