Saving Grace veers frequently and dangerously toward playing as a little too cute, but it's rescued by a number of sage and funny performances.
Saving Grace (2000)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:86
Fresh:55
Rotten:31
Average Rating:6/10
Consensus: The plot and basis for jokes are slight, but Saving Grace is indeed saved by some charming performances, most notably Brenda Blethyn's.
Runtime: 1 hr 35 mins
Genre: Comedies
Synopsis: Set in the beautiful misty fishing town of Port Liac in Cornwall England, SAVING GRACE--an easy-going comic gem--centers on Grace Trevethan (Brenda Blethlyn), a sweet and modest middle-aged lady,... Set in the beautiful misty fishing town of Port Liac in Cornwall England, SAVING GRACE--an easy-going comic gem--centers on Grace Trevethan (Brenda Blethlyn), a sweet and modest middle-aged lady, whose husband commits suicide, leaving her with his grave financial problems. While real estate agents from London prey on Grace, trying to take away her home to settle the debts, she and her faithful gardener, Matthew (Craig Ferguson), devise a plan to grow enough marijuana in her greenhouse to break even. Wiring the greenhouse with super-bright growing lamps that cause the locals to wear sunglasses at night, having the ladies for "tea" resulting in fits of laughter and silly behavior, and pulling the wool over the local vicar's eyes, the whole town gets involved in this secret "joint venture." Once Grace harvests her crop, she hits the high road to London as a pusher, trying to sell the dope to a major dealer and cash out. Director Nigel Cole has hit the nail on the head with this film. The musical score from Mark Russell has a folky, feel-good beat, and the careful filming is colorful and clear. Never once does SAVING GRACE frown on its illegal subject matter, which makes its story all the more entertaining. [More]
Starring: Brenda Blethyn, Craig Ferguson, Martin Clunes, Tcheky Karyo
Starring: Brenda Blethyn, Craig Ferguson, Martin Clunes, Tcheky Karyo, Valerie Edmond, Tristan Sturrock
Director: Nigel Cole
Director: Nigel Cole
Screenwriter: Craig Ferguson, Mark Crowdy
Producer: Mark Crowdy
Composer: Mark Russell
Reviews for Saving Grace
Inanely upbeat and grindingly obvious, the movie amounts to a checklist of inevitable tee-heeing scenarios that surface on cue, only to wilt instantly before your eyes.
Take away the marijuana, and what you have in Saving Grace is a comedy of the old school and, depending on your view of the current state of screen humor, that's either a promise or a warning.
You can save yourself from this desperately amiable and harmlessly dull Britcom ... if you just say no.
A very funny English comedy that shows how there are always helping hands to usher us through the crises of our lives.
There is nothing profound in this movie, but it shines through so many of this summer's dumb Hollywood comedies like a beacon through a haze of smoke.
We revel in the gentle fun the story makes at the expense of village people, some of whom turn out to be not as dumb as they appear.
Blethyn is a gifted purveyor of subtle, warm humor, a master of reactive acting who gets more mileage from a glance or a quick smile than most actors get from pages of dialogue.
The familiar, derivative feel is in part offset by a hard-to-deny level of appeal.
Without her humanity and comic timing, Saving Grace could have been a silly puff-ball. With Ms. Blethyn and a talented ensemble, it has the makings of a Full Monty-type sleeper.
That it has all the charm and whimsical lightness of an army training film -- is the fault of a comically leaden script.
Unless you're helpless at the sight of old English biddies getting the munchies, you'll be laughing a lot less than the tokers onscreen.
It's an only sporadically amusing piece that largely wastes the talents of a cast that deserves better.
Despite a likable cast and commendable characterizations, this hemp-growing yarn ends up being a bland drag.
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