... I understand he's expanded on this character from Saving Grace for his "Doc Martin" films/TV series). He is also in love with Nicky, while being in cahoots with Matthew in his illicit pot growing.
Set in picturesque Cornwall, Nigel Cole makes his big-screen film direction debut with this ... Read review
A sweet, silly and sincere comedy,Saving Graceresembles a Cheech and Chong pothead comedy, ... more
only instead of two scruffy lowlifes the film is about an aimless Scottish gardener and a middle-aged widow with a green thumb. Grace (Brenda Blethyn ofSecrets a...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
A sweet, silly and sincere comedy,Saving Graceresembles a Cheech and Chong pothead comedy, ... more
only instead of two scruffy lowlifes the film is about an aimless Scottish gardener and a middle-aged widow with a green thumb. Grace (Brenda Blethyn ofSecrets a...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
When her husband jumped out of a plane without a parachute, Grace Trevethen knew life ... more
would get tough... but she had no idea just how tough. Left with a manor on the Cornish coast, a mountain of debt and dozens of creditors on her heels, she is about t...
Trevethen knew life would get tough...but she had no idea just how tough. Left with a ... more
manor on the Cornish coast a mountain of debt and dozens of creditors on her heels she is about to lose everything. But with Matthew the manor's caretaker Grace h...
Postage & Packaging: £0.00 Availability: 3-5 working days
In this splendid "New York Times" bestseller Julie Garwood brilliantly crafts the ... more
majestic story of a young Englishwoman determined to fight for her freedom...a woman whose life would be transformed by the rare unexpected gift of love. When Lady Johanna learned that she was a widow she vowed she would never marry again. Only sixteen already she possessed a strength of will that impressed all who looked past her golden-haired beauty. Yet when King John demanded that she remarry -- and selected a bridegroom for her -- it seemed she must acquiesce until her beloved foster brother suggested she wed his friend the handsome Scottish warrior Gabriel MacBain. At first Johanna was shy but as Gabriel tenderly revealed the splendid pleasures they would share she came to suspect that she was falling in love with her gruff new husband. And it was soon apparent to the entire Highlands clan that their brusque gallant laird had surrendered his heart completely. But now a desperate royal intrigue threatened to tear her from his side -- and to destroy the man whose love meant more to her than she had ever dreamed!
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Reeling from her husband's betrayal and struggling to rebuild her marriage, Grace ... more
daydreams about a normal life. Soon a book enters her life and she meets Richard, the man who wrote it. One shows her what is important in her life. The other threatens to take it away. She discovers that Richard's imagination is unwilling to let her go.
Comedy - Director: Richard Boden, Mandie Fletcher, Martin Shardlow - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Hugh Laurie, Miranda Richardson, Stephen Fry, Brian Blessed, Tim McInnerny, Tony Robinson, Rowan Atkinson
Comedy - Original Language: English - Classification: 12 years and over - Starring: Tessa Peake-Jones, Buster Merryfield, David Jason, Nicholas Lyndhurst
Comedy - Director: Gareth Carrivick - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Kathryn Drysdale, Sheridan Smith, Natalie Casey, Will Mellor, Ralf Little
Advantages: Fun acting, excellent timing, beautiful setting, lots of laughs Disadvantages: No smell-o-vision!!!!! Too smooth an ending.
...expanded on this character from Saving Grace for his "Doc Martin" films/TV series). He is also in love with Nicky, while being in cahoots with Matthew in his illicit pot growing.
Set in picturesque Cornwall, Nigel Cole makes his big-screen film direction debut with this picture. Cole takes full advantage of all the possible twists a script like this can offer, and keeps the stereotypes to an absolute minimum - drawing upon ... ...joke at hand. Cole keeps gives every character an opportunity to be liked by the viewers - even if they are one of the 'bad guys'. With this, the film holds lovingly together and keeps the audience's attention to the very end. Moreover, the laughs are perfectly timed so that you've just finished wiping away a tear from the last one in time to catch the next one about to put you on the floor once again.
I've been a fan of Brenda Blethyn's since I first saw her in "Secrets and Lies" (for which she received an Academy Award Nomination). I was even more enthralled with her performance in "Girls Night" which I also reviewed here. And then she appeared in her most startlingly different role as the mother Mari Hoff in "Little Voice" (for which she got another Oscar nomination). So, when I saw the trailers for this movie, I knew I had to see it as soon as possible.
Ms. Blethyn gives another totally believable performance here, which isn't in the least bit surprising. What is surprising is that this character is very different than the parts she has played before. In "Secrets and Lies" and "Girls Night" she played mousey, shy retiring women. In "Little Voice" she wowed us with her brash, harsh and unlikeable character. More recently, her character in "Between the Sheets" showed us how she can play a prude who learns to unleash her sexuality.
Here, she is none of these - she plays the part of Grace Trevethyn, a just-beyond-middle aged widow who has lived very comfortably all her life, only to find out after her husband's death that she is not only penniless, but heavily in debt. She is strong enough to accept the existence of her husband's mistress Honey (played by Diana Quick), but weak enough to know that her financial situation is close to hopeless. Grace is well aware of her strengths and weaknesses - the former being nothing more profitable than her skills as a gardener, who grows orchids (which could be a profitable endeavor, but, sadly not nearly enough to rid her of the tremendous financial difficulties that seem to mount with each scene).
Craig Ferguson co-wrote the screenplay for this film (with the story originator, Mark Crowdy) and also plays the part of Matthew, Grace's inept, but charmingly handsome Scottish gardener, who has been unsuccessfully growing pot in the garden of the Vicarage, of all places. His request for her able assistance in helping him revive his dying seedlings is what plants the seed for her scheme to instant solvency. I'm sure you can all guess what that is.
Woven into this plot is Matthew's relationship with Nicky, aptly played by relatively unknown Valerie Edmond, who pulls off another strong/weak woman part. In addition, the local doctor, played by Martin Clunes is an excellent comic relief (probably best known in the US for his performance as Gary Strang in "<British> Men Behaving Badly", and most recently <for me> in the part of William in 'William and Mary'. I understand he's expanded on this character from Saving Grace for his "Doc Martin" films/TV series). He is also in love with Nicky, while being in cahoots with Matthew in his illicit pot growing.
Set in picturesque Cornwall, Nigel Cole makes his big-screen film direction debut with this picture. Cole takes full advantage of all the possible twists a script like this can offer, and keeps the stereotypes to an absolute minimum - drawing upon them only when slapstick is the best medium for the joke at hand. Cole keeps gives every character an opportunity to be liked by the viewers - even if they are one of the 'bad guys'. With this, the film holds lovingly together and keeps the audience's attention to the very end. Moreover, the laughs are perfectly timed so that you've just finished wiping away a tear from the last one in time to catch the next one about to put you on the floor once again.
The one drawback - I was a little put off by the ending which I felt smoothed things over a bit too slickly. But, then again - we're talking straight comedy here and not romantic comedy, so why complain, right?
In sum, if you want to see a movie that will leave you smiling for hours and hours afterwards, this is the one to go see. And, you don't even need to get high to do so - in fact, you're better off going stone-cold sober. Who would want to miss any of the fun, right?
Thanks for Reading!
~~~~~ Technical Stuff: This is a review of the film only - as per the criteria below.
This is available on DVD on Amazon for £7.97, and on VHS for £5.99. The soundtrack is also available on Amazon for £11.99 (so expensive?).
As this movie is from 2000, it no longer has its own web site, but you can read more about it at http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0195234/ ~~~~~
Advantages: So funny!! Martin Clunes is in it and he's funny Disadvantages: Drug use can seem too lax
...**What It's About**
Saving Grace is exactly what the title says the film is about; saving Grace (Brenda Blethyn), a middle aged widow whose passion is gardening and whose husband has just died and left her in thousands and thousands of pounds worth of debt. Due to failed business plans and mortgaging and re-mortgaging their home, Grace is desperate. And just to add salt to the wound, her husband's mistress turns up at the funeral but she ends up ... ...lovely sexy gardener, Matthew played by Craig Ferguson is forced out of his job because she can't afford to pay him so it seems like Matthew and Grace are in dire straights because without any money, Grace's house will be repossessed and without a job Matthew will have to move back to Glasgow and take his unhappy fisher girlfriend with him. That is of course until Matthew's little drug habit conjures up a masterful plan for the pair of them to become ...
lizrow 14.04.2005
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Saving Grace (DVD)
Advantages: British Humour at its best. Disadvantages: none
...lot to do with her saving her home, plants that are of a somewhat illegal nature.
The interaction of village people, the village priest, doctor, and bobby are so funny, you have to see this film to appreciate it.
A gentle film that brings British comedy into modern living in a way that makes me think of all things British. Do watch this movie. The actual price I paid was eight pounts from E'bay on DVD, but it was the best eight pounds that I have ... ...is French and therefore does not have the normal age ratings, but I would suggest that you view your copy and decide who it is suitable for. My guess would be that it would be an 18.
This is the kind of film to invite friends to watch, to enjoy an evening of entertainment that you will not forget in a hurry. British made, British humour, and somehow the gentility that the British seem to retain is shown by Brenda Blethyn's innocense and naivity. ...
thingywhatsit 29.09.2003
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Saving Grace (DVD)
Advantages: Wasted Old Ladies Disadvantages: Lacks some sort of je ne sais quoi
The plot: Blethyn's husband dies and leaves her with huge debts. She collaborates with the gardener, and the two of them hatch a smokin' plot to rescue her house and lifestyle from the ruthless debt collectors. The confusion: I found it really difficult to get into the story as I was distracted by the confusion as to where the is set. The ecletic mix of Irish, Scottish, London and Cornish accents are totally confusing. And that's just when the actors ... ...French doing her "How err yooy" Irish accent on more than one occasion. The laughs: However, the story does deserve some credit -particularly for its originality. The comedy element is ther as well. Brenda Blethyn does a great job, as the rich housewife turned drugs criminal, and Martin Clunes provides the requisite drunken slapstick laughs. You'll love the scene with the two old newsagent ladies who get the giggles after becoming passively stoned. ...
avitallly 28.04.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Saving Grace (DVD)
Advantages: Refreshingly unbiased and quite amusing Disadvantages: Naive
When her husband dies, formerly well-to-do Grace finds out that not only was he a crook but that he has also left her penniless and with massive debts. With eviction looming, she is at a loss about what to do until her pot-smoking gardener, Matthew, suggests that she puts her gardening skills to good use by growing and selling copious amounts of marijuana. The inhabitants of this sleepy Cornish village soon feel the effects. What's refreshing about ... ...choose to enjoy the effects of "de 'erb". Only Matthew's girlfriend Nicky raises any objection to his being involved in the scheme, and only then because she is pregnant and fears that he will be arrested. The authority figures are portrayed as either kind-hearted, understanding types or just incompetent. Much of the film, like Grace herself, comes across as either quaint or just naive. In particular, the scenes of unsuspecting villagers getting ...
MonkeyboyUK 02.08.2000
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Saving Grace (DVD)
Advantages: Vert funny, well acted, gorgeous scenery Disadvantages: none
This film is a delight to watch. From the opening sequences to the end you are simply rivetted to this hillarious story, which is beautifully filmed and features tremendous actors. Starring the talented Brenda Blethyn, gorgeous Craig Ferguson and dopey Martin Clunes as the druggie GP ?!?!? Left impoverished by her swine of a husband, widow Grace, because of her financial straights and with help from her laconic gardener decides to start growing canabis. ... ...when they try to rig up a generator for the lights in the greenhouse and every night the greenhouse lit up whole countryside, When Grace goes down to London and walks the streets stopping likely looking people trying to find a dealer to buy the stuff they have harvested, or When the two little old shop ladies take a plant, thinking it's tea and end up stoned. Really funny. I won't give any of the plot away - you have GOT to see the film, needless ...
gailmill 30.11.2000
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Saving Grace (DVD)
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Release details
DVD Region
DVD
Studio(s)
20th Century Fox Home Entertainment; Deluxe Video Service - Fox
Featurette - 1. THE MAKING OF SAVING GRACE, Trailer - 1. Original Theatrical, Interviews - 1. Cast & Crew
Aspect Ratio
16:9 Wide Screen
Sound
Dolby Digital 5.1
Dubbing Sound
Dolby Digital 5.1 English
Professional reviews
Review
"...SAVING GRACE is good-hearted and all in good fun, told -- and enjoyed -- in a relaxed state of mind..." (Box Office, p.224, 01/04/2000)
"...Ganja silliness ensues..." -- Rating: B (Entertainment Weekly, p.54, 05/01/2001)
"...Mr. Ferguson is a leading contender for the title of World's Most Amusing Scot..." (New York Times, p.E25, 04/08/2000)
"...A crowd-pleasing comedy....Blethyn's solid-gold charm turns SAVING GRACE into a comic high..." (Rolling Stone, p.82, 31/08/2000)
"...With its lush photography and pleasing romantic angle, this old-fashioned comedy is funny enough to generate a buzz..." -- 3 out of 4 stars (USA Today, p.4E, 04/08/2000)
DVD Description
SAVING GRACE is genuinely funny British comedy about Grace, a recently widowed woman who risks losing her wonderful estate and beautiful garden because of the huge debts her husband left when he died. To cure her financial ailments, she uses her horticultural talent to raise--and then sell--marijuana plants. But, when Grace gets herself caught between the police, some serious London drug pushers, and the real estate agents who have a claim on the estate, audiences will certainly turn a blind eye to the law in order to "save Grace."
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