# Saving Grace (2000)

### reviewed by
Shannon Patrick Sullivan

    SAVING GRACE (2000) / ***

Directed by Nigel Cole. Screenplay by Craig Ferguson and Mark Crowdy, from a story by Crowdy. Starring Brenda Blethyn, Ferguson, Valerie Edmond. Running time: 92 minutes. Rated AA by the MFCB. Reviewed on November 22nd, 2000.

    By SHANNON PATRICK SULLIVAN

"Saving Grace" is a cozy rural comedy -- about marijuana. That statement by itself should convince you that either this is an incredibly poorly-conceived film... or else that it's British. And indeed, "Saving Grace" is a delightfully amusing little English lark, possessing more than enough charm to overcome any reticence viewers might feel about its seemingly incongruous subject material.

Instead of relying on elaborate gags and set pieces, first-time director Nigel Cole opts for the tried-and-true British practise of establishing a familiar, comfortable setting which is just off-kilter enough to tickle the funny bone. Much of the action is set in a small Cornish village in the middle of nowhere, where everybody knows (and gossips about) everybody else.

The town is populated by such unlikely -- but not absurd -- characters as a police officer who searches doggedly for poachers while living in ignorance of the barely-concealed local marijuana stash, and two well-meaning old biddies who are hopelessly naive, and probably a little dense to boot. None of these characters are gross exaggerations, but none of them are entirely realistic. They're regular people reflected in a slightly warped mirror.

As befitting their role in the movie, the major characters are somewhat more believable (if only just). There's gentle but sheltered Grace Trevethyn (Brenda Blethyn), recently widowed, who learns that her late husband has bequeathed to her a massive debt she cannot hope to pay off. Then there's Grace's gardener, Matthew (Craig Ferguson, who also co-wrote the script), a man reluctant to seize the responsibilities that come with age, despite the efforts of his girlfriend Nicky (Valerie Edmond).

Matthew is trying to grow a small marijuana patch in a hidden plot in the garden of the local vicarage. When his crop begins to turn sickly, he turns in desperation to Grace, whose gardening skills are a matter of local legend. Reluctantly at first, Grace nurses the plants back to health -- better than ever, in fact. Gradually, she and Matthew hit upon the idea of using Grace's greenhouse to grow enough pot to sell to a dealer and make the money Grace needs to save her home (not to mention Matthew's job).

What follows is a fairly typical sequence of events, as Grace and Matthew try to keep their new line of work from the townsfolk, avoid Grace's creditors, and find a drug trafficker to whom they can sell their haul without getting their throats slit. There are very few surprises in the narrative structure of "Saving Grace", but the material is nonetheless well-written enough that this hardly seems to matter. It is difficult not to watch the movie without a smile permanently creasing your face; that the film only rarely provokes a huge laugh is almost irrelevant.

Blethyn gives a very even-handed performance as Grace. She has been given no easy role, because Grace has to appear closeted and unworldly, yet not overly stupid or childish. Occasionally, the script lets her down -- a protracted scene in which Grace walks the back roads of London looking for a dealer, dressed incongruously in her Sunday best, is more groan-inducing than truly funny -- but for the most part, Blethyn holds steady. This serves her particularly well in scenes such as her confrontation with drug kingpin Jacques Chevalier (Tcheky Karyo). Their disarming tete-a-tete would appear ludicrous in less skilled hands, but Blethyn makes it work.

Also very good is Ferguson, whose Matthew is probably the most well-rounded character in the piece. He nicely captures a portrait of a man trapped between his undisciplined younger years and the undesirably mounting obligations of later life. He is paired well with Edmond, who does a good job with her material; but unfortunately Nicky is just not drawn well enough to match Matthew, and this dulls the energy of their scenes together. Martin Clunes is also laudable as Matthew's best friend, Dr Bamford, the village medic. As played by Clunes, Bamford is the sort of man who looks at the world through ironic eyes, as though he never quite believes what he is seeing. Clunes is consistently funny throughout "Saving Grace", and it's just a shame his role is not more integral.

"Saving Grace" proceeds well through its first two acts, but unfortunately does come off the rails as it heads toward its conclusion. Whereas the opening hour is carefully measured, slowly but assuredly building up the intertwining stories of Grace, Matthew and Nicky, and the general bemusement of rural life, the final thirty minutes is a cacophony of different ideas. Beginning with Grace's spur-of-the-moment trip to London, a slew of new characters are thrown at the viewer, and only some of the resulting storylines emerge successfully. The ending of "Saving Grace" feels very much like somebody throwing a cupboard-full of plates into the air and seeing how many they can catch.

As a result, some subplots (including, sadly, Matthew and Nicky's) feel abbreviated or abandoned altogether (one of Grace's creditors finally comes to see her in person, gets hijacked into a separate thread, and is then promptly forgotten). The main story of Grace's efforts to get out of debt is handed an unforeseen and largely unbelievable resolution, as the film fast-forwards ahead a year or two. It is the sort of ending that makes you think the screenwriters were trying too hard to come up with something that would both provide closure and send the movie out on an uproarious note. In reality, it just comes across as odd and contrived, and therefore accomplishes neither goal.

Still, "Saving Grace" is infectious enough that it is quite enjoyable, on the whole. And despite its contentious subject material, it should enjoy a wide appeal because it manages to be a movie about marijuana, without really coming across as either pro- or anti-pot. "Saving Grace" illuminates both the pleasant and unpleasant aspects of the matter -- and pokes good fun at it all.

Copyright © 2000 Shannon Patrick Sullivan. Archived at The Popcorn Gallery, http://www.physics.mun.ca/~sps/movies/SavingGrace.html

_______________________________________________________________________ / Shannon Patrick Sullivan | "We are all in the gutter, but some of us \ | shannon@mun.ca | are looking at the stars." - Oscar Wilde | \___________________________|__________________________________________/ | Popcorn Gallery Movie Reviews www.physics.mun.ca/~sps/movies.html | | Doctor Who: A Brief History of Time (Travel) /drwho.html |

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