Saving Grace (2000)

reviewed by
Harvey S. Karten


SAVING GRACE

Reviewed by Harvey Karten Fine Line Features/Portman Entertainment Director: Nigel Cole Writer: Craig Ferguson, Mark Crowdy, Story by Mark Crowdy Cast: Brenda Blethyn, Craig Ferguson, Martin Clunes, Tcheky Karyo, Jamie Forman, Bill Bailey, Valerie Edmond, Tristan Sturrock, Clive Merrison, Leslie Phillips, Diana Quick, Phyllida Law, Linda Kerr Scott, Ken Campbell

A picture with the same amusing spirit as Kirk Jones's "Waking Ned Devine," Nigel Cole's "Saving Grace" is one of those insular comedies of people living on tight little islands, having little contact with the outside world, only to be compelled by misfortune to enter into the rough-and-tumble of big city politics. Such a situation is earmarked for whimsy, and given the talent at director Cole's call, that's what we get.

The story is photographed in the Cornish city of St. Isaacs in an area of the world that for Europeans could be called a lands end--nobody just passes through and doubtless few residents even bother to make the trip to London. The fanciful tone is set in the very first scene just after the dissolute husband of Grace Trevethan (Brenda Blethyn) has jumped or fallen out of a plane without a parachute and is buried by people who mutter curses rather than benedictions under their breath. We soon find out why. The man--who proves to have had an affair unbenownst to his wife--was heavily in debt, having mortgaged his home and borrowed heavily to finance a series of disastrous business ventures. With creditors swamping Grace for payment and taking away her furniture right down to the motorized lawnmower which had been secured on time payments, Grace, who is merely an amateur albeit remarkable gardener, is about to become homeless. Under advice from Matthew ("The Big Tease"'s Craig Ferguson), her now underemployed gardener, she transforms her well-lit greenhouse into fertile soil for the growing of marijuana. Just as the entire village of Tallymore (pop. 52) in Kirk Jones's fable is aware of and hiding the fact that Ned Devine, winner of a lottery, was dead, so are the inhabitants of this Cornish coastal town hip to the desperate measures that Grace must pursue to save herself from bankruptcy.

While the plot is amusing enough, "Saving Grace" is too derivative to stand on its own as a comedy the likes of Robert Asher's 1960 movie "Make Mine Mink," about a former soldier who organizes a band of fur thieves. This film is driven not by plot but by its inhabitants, who are far enough removed from the pressures of urban conformity to cultivate their separate eccentricities in much the way that Grace and Matthew cultivate their plants.

In the sort of story that brings broad smiles to the faces of the audience rather than loud guffaws, "Saving Grace" subverts the idea that money does not grow on trees, as director Cole uses his keen eyes and ears to supply each of his personalities with erratic individuality. Best of all is Brenda Blethyn, who appears in virtually every scene and who proves that she is as able to coax grins in this picture as she had brought tears to our eyes in Mike Leigh's poignant "Secrets and Lies." We watch her grow from a naive and accepting backwater matron unable even to express her sexual frustration to her unscrupulous husband, to a cosmopolitan women human being. She does this by briefly taking up a career in what is still ludicrously considered a crime, making a trip on her own to London, and consorting with an urbane international drug dealer (Tcheky Karyo) who takes quite a fancy to this dauntless individual.

While the conclusion of this deft little comedy is scarcely believable and, in fact, is resolved with an unforeshadowed contrivance, 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. Keystone Cop Sgt. Alfred (Ken Campbell) could easily remind you of "Waking Ned Devine"'s daft Michael O'Sullivan (played by David Kelly)--a slightly bemused officer who dreams of the fame he would receive if only he can catch the local salmon poachers. Martin Clunes as Dr. Bamford is the kind of physician we hope to find, at least when we're not gravely ill--the sort who hardly takes himself seriously and is up for a toke or a drink at any time. Among other comic scenes is one involving women who have the time of their lives when they unknowingly down cups of tea made from marijuana leaves.

Mark Crowdy, who wrote the story and is its producer, tells us something about the history of the movie. Crowdy, who is from the very Cornwall of the narrative, heard about a man driving a Land Rover who had a sneezing attack so bad that his head pitched forwarded and got stuck in the steering wheel. His car swerved from the road, crashed, and the man died. In the hands of "The Ice Storm"'s Ang Lee, this could be a take-off point for a tragic tale, but Crowdy uses the inspiration to carve a daffy yarn of a woman who turns to a crime of the most harmless kind to save herself.

Not Rated. Running time: 93 minutes. (C) 2000 by Harvey Karten, film_critic@compuserve.com


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