Were we in for yet another slushy biopic? A look-a-like actor in the place of the star and a predictable rags to Rolls-Royce plot? Well…yes and no.
Opening in Wales, circa 1940s, Toby Jones plays the part of English teacher Philip Burton who takes the young ‘Rich’ Jenkins under his wing. (That is, the young man we will later know as Richard Burton, the actor.) One can’t help but compare Jones’s screen performance to that of an anxious pug – is that unkind?The teacher’s own theatrical dreams have been thwarted, he pours his loneliness and devotion into the neglected miner’s son. Philip gives Rich a home, tutoring and even his own name in order for the bright boy to gain a scholarship to Oxford. (Despite what the ‘neighbours’ might think, the relationship was purely paternal and altruistic.)
Actor, newcomer, Harry Lawtey renders a worthy performance as the young Rich.  It’s a big ask to fill Richard Burton’s boots, that unmistakeable voice, those green, cat-like eyes but Lawtey (mostly) delivers. One feels genuine sorrow for the confused youth – one of thirteen born into poverty and sired by a no-good, alcoholic ‘Tad’ (Daddy Ni).
Aimee Ffion-Edwards, stands out as his robust and feisty older sister, Cis. In reality, Richard Burton’s own mother died when he was two and Cis took up her role.  However, young Rich faces many challenges, a resentful step-father, learning English, a pock-marked face, relentless poverty, a doomed future down the mines…
Whether verified or no, the pub scene in which Philip Burton pays off Richard’s father 50 pounds (around 1400 pounds now) to relinquish him as his ‘legal’ son is truly heart wrenching. Confirming the boy’s own sense of worthlessness in the eyes of his father. No doubt, this troubled relationship sews the seed for the actor’s later insecurities and alcoholism.
Later, allusions are made between the betrayal of Hal/Falstaff from Henry IV, Part II juxtaposed between the Stage at Stratford and Philip Burton, his mentor, in the audience. Where the rising star, Richard Burton actor assumes his crown (metaphorically his own stardom) and relinquishes his impoverished past.
(A pet peeve, are the Holy Trinity Church scenes, which perpetuate the fiction that an illiterate, uneducated man from Stratford Upon Avon ‘Shaksper’ was the playwright we know as Shakespeare. The billion-pound industry built on this misinformation over hundreds of years, tenaciously clings on, despite all of the growing evidence and latest scholarship to the contrary. With that much money at stake on the trencher, why wouldn’t they? But I digress.
Welsh director, Marc Evans brings a gritty reality to the screen, avoiding (thankfully) what could have been a mawkish and sentimental offering. No spoilers in the scrum here: this film is an entertaining and often-moving story. When all’s said and done, it is a miraculous journey from coal miner’s son to Hollywood Star, Richard Burton CBE.
My rating: A male-voice choir at Evensong and a sprinkling of coal-dust
Three and half leeks – bring your handkerchiefs.