Mr Burton

Mr. Burton offers a glimpse into the pivotal early life of Richard Burton (Rich Jenkins), guided by his influential teacher, Philip Burton.

While Toby Jones delivers a predictably strong performance as Philip Burton, anchoring the film with his understated gravitas, the movie itself presents a mixed bag, showcasing both its heartfelt intentions and some narrative stumbles.

The film's core strength lies in its portrayal of the mentorship between Philip Burton and young Richard Jenkins (a commendable Harry Lawtey). Their evolving dynamic is compelling, painting a vivid picture of how a working-class boy from Port Talbot was shaped into a theatrical force. Jones and Lawtey share a believable chemistry that drives the narrative forward, highlighting the profound impact one individual can have on another's destiny.

However, "Mr. Burton" isn't without its drawbacks. The pacing, while allowing for character development, can feel overly deliberate, occasionally bordering on slow. Some narrative beats follow a familiar biopic trajectory, which, while comforting, can also limit the film's sense of fresh discovery. Furthermore, while the film touches upon the complexities and whispers surrounding their close relationship, it tends to shy away from deeper exploration, leaving certain intriguing facets underexamined. In a certain way, that might have been for the better!

Ultimately, it's a sincere and well-acted tribute, but one that occasionally plays it safe, preventing it from truly soaring.

As a film and theatre lover I would never miss a biopic about a famous actor, and so I knew I would enjoy Mr. Burton. But it turned out that the best thing about the film for me was the story of Mr. Philip Burton, the teacher, not so much the story of Richard Burton, the famous actor. Philip Burton wrote a book about his memories of Richard Jenkins (as he then was) and the narrative seems to be largely true, though fudged here and there. There is much to admire about Mr. Burton's teaching methods, and even more to admire about Toby Jones' acting which was completely flawless. Lesley Manville as the housekeeper was also excellent, though we didn't see much of her. Harry Lawtey was less successful as Richard Burton, perhaps because the script required him to change too rapidly from a quiet schoolboy to a rebellious and difficult adult. The first part of the film was somewhat slow and the use of AI technology to provide supposed landscapes of Welsh countryside really grated on me, but the interiors were effective.

Despite being a bit lop-sided, this is still quite a poignant story of the young Richard Jenkins (Harry Lawtey) who has been living with his elder sister and her husband since his mother died whilst he was an infant. His dad (Steffan Rhodri) worked hard down the mines then boozed hard afterwards, and so the young lad was largely neglected by him as he grew to curious manhood. He was interested at school, liked to read and sing and play rugby - and that attracted the attention of his teacher Burton (Toby Jones). He was a scholarly man, but a frustrated Thesp, who had lodged for many a year with the widowed "Ma" (Lesley Manville) and wrote scripts for BBC Radio. It was this latter man's determination to get his young protégé to focus, knuckle down and learn how to say "here" properly that serves as the thrust of the plot here and allows both Jones and the impressive Lawtey to give us not just an illustration of Burton's conflict and potential, but also a glimpse into just how valued education was at a time when families lived on the poverty line and working at the pit from an early age was a necessity that made schooling a luxury. It takes a few liberties with the facts of their relationship and sows some suggestive seeds about what might have driven both men, but for the most part it's an interesting character study of a troubled man who quite possibly didn't know how to be loved. The conclusion is all a bit rushed, we do jump ahead quite substantially in the last ten minutes and those missing years do rather leave a gap in his transition from geeky student to Stratford celebrity, but with a generous contribution from Manville to help guide us through this turbulent period for him, his teacher and his country this is at the better end of television biopics, and with Lawtey acting rather than trying to mimic the original, is worth a watch.

Mr. Burton quite simply is a biopic of the early life of Richard Jenkins, later to become Richard Burton as the film goes at great lengths to explain.

The cast are excellent be it Toby Jones as English teacher/thespian Philip Burton who becomes a guiding light to son of a (drunk) Welsh miner Dic Jenkins.

However the best performance is from young actor Harry Lawtey who plays the Richard Jenkins cum Burton role. From a raw poor Welsh schoolboy he becomes one of the biggest actors in the world and this film shows how Mr. Philip Burton moulded him to do so. Not just in name but Anglicizing his diction to become the great orator he is remembered for being.

Toby Jones is a mainstay of British cinema and television and his portrayal is non-scandalous when surely some tongues wagged at his close relationship with Richard Jenkins.

British, low budget but intriguing indeed. I have watched Burton's filmography vehemently over several months and now after watching this film I may explore some Burton biographies in book form. This film is definitely better than even I expected.

My Review- Mr Burton My Rating 8/10 In Cinemas now

This interesting and insightful movie concerns the early life in Wales of Richard Burton up till his acclaimed stage debut in 1951 at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre at Stratford in plays that included Henry IV, Part 1, Henry IV, Part 2, and Henry V, as part of the Festival of Britain .

The Mr Burton in the title was Philip Burton Richard's friend and tutor and later foster father played brilliantly by Toby Jones .

The movie opens with a quote from Elizabeth Taylor who said, "Without Philip Burton, there would have been no Richard.

With a very good screenplay written by Tom Bullough and Josh Hyams Mr Burton is skilfully directed by Marc Evans . The story begins with the then young Richard Jenkins mid school years in Wales .

Richard Jenkins who with the tutelage and encouragement of his teacher Philip Burton wins a scholarship exam for admission into Port Talbot Secondary School in March 1937 and passed it.

Philip Burton is a quiet sensitive man who boards with his delightful landlady and friend Ma Smith played with such charm by Leslie Manville .

Philip is passionate about stage acting and is instrumental in starting an amateur acting studio in Port Talbot .

His protege Richard's raw emotional and natural talent is obvious to Philip even though his pupils rough Welsh accent and lack of experience poses problems in the beginning.

Young British actor Harry Lawtey is excellent in the role of Richard Jenkins who later for professional reasons takes the name of his teacher Philip Burton.

Actor Harry Lawtey skilfully develops in manner and has an uncanny appearance to the young Richard Burton.

He transforms from the rough diamond son of an alcoholic father who gives his son consent to change his name once he's paid fifty pounds by Philip Burton then accuses Richard of being a poofter .

It soon becomes obvious that the actor now Richard Burton on the eve of great stage fame has inherited the alcohol problem that many famous Welsh actors including Peter O'Toole, Anthony Hopkins and Richard Harris experienced.

His unpredictable tantrums while under the influence of alcohol would haunt his life until his premature death aged only 58 years old in 1984.

Richard Burton is one of an elite club of great movie actors who although nominated seen times for an Academy Award amazingly never won an Oscar .

Mr Burton is a fine independent movie produced by BBC Wales probably on a very limited budget which probably explains the at times very obvious CGI sets however the cast is superb and I'm certain that any movie buff will enjoy Mr Burton .