'3BlackChicks Review...'
SAVING GRACE (2000) Rated R; running time 93 minutes Genre: Comedy IMDB site: http://us.imdb.com/Details?0195234 Official site: http://www.saving-grace-movie.com/ Written by: Mark Crowdy, Craig Ferguson Directed by: Nigel Cole Cast: Brenda Blethyn, Craig Ferguson, Martin Clunes, Valerie Edmond, Tcheky Karyo, Phyllida Law, Jamie Forman, Bill Bailey, Tristan Sturrock, Clive Merrison, Leslie Phillips, Diana Quick, Linda Kerr Scott, Ken Campbell
Review Copyright Rose Cooper, 2000 Review URL: http://www.3blackchicks.com/bamssavegrace.html
When one speaks of The War On [some] drugs, at least here in the Un-tied States, pictures of burnt-out crackhouses, doped-up kids, ghetto drive-bys, and dealers dripping in gold, (stereo)typically come to mind. Rarely does one conjure up a picture of a quaint little old lady Doing What She Has To to get by.
SAVING GRACE conjures up that very picture, in its Veddy British way. And as a lifetime Uhmerkin gal who grew up in a Uhmerkin Innercity (Detroit), I had quite a time reconciling its images with those images we're shown every night at 6 and 11 on this side of the Pond.
The Story (WARNING: **spoilers contained below**): In a small coastal town in Merry Olde England, Grace Trevethen (Brenda Blethyn), a recent widow and avid horticulturist, discovers to her horror that not only was her philandering husband screwing around behind her back with another woman, he also had some Shady Dealings that left her in serious debt. With the threat of her home being taken away from her, Grace turns to her former Scot yardsman Matthew (Craig Ferguson) for advice. Matthew, who partakes of Demon Weed on a regular basis with local doc Dr. Bamford (Martin Clues), helps Grace hatch the idea to take some of Matthew's dying marijuana plants and sell them. That's right: sweet middle-aged Grace will become a [gasp] drug dealer!
With Grace now reduced to "having" to sling dope to make ends meet, can Hilarity still Ensue?
The Upshot: The first thing you should know about SAVING GRACE is that, at least by American standards, it's fairly absurd. Maybe I live a Sheltered Life, but within *my* circles at least, had The Whole Town known I was doing what Matthew and Grace were doing, I dare say that neither of us would be doing it for long; between that cop taking us in toot sweet, or the neighbors stealing our brightly-lit stash, I have no doubt that here in near-suburban Podunkville, the chances that we'd have a Grace in our backyard are slim-to-none. And yes, that _is_ considering the fact that there are plenty of corrupt cops, and known dopehouses, to go around.
You should also know that it's a given that British Humor is somewhat...drier...than what's commonly seen on TV tubes and theater screens here in the States. "Benny Hill" and "Monty Python" aside, I've found Brit Humor to be interesting, but a lot more subdued, than the general Laugh Out Loudedness that permeates so many American comedy flicks these days. Not that that's A Bad Thing per se; it's just different.
All those caveats aside, the folks involved with SAVING GRACE looked like they were having a bowl...er, a ball. Though this movie stretched the limits of my Disbelief at times, the major players involved with it were quite pleasing to watch (one of the best things being that they looked like people that'd live in such a place; no teased hair and spoiled-brat acting on these actors' parts, no siree!) and root for. Which raises Yet Another interesting question: is it kosher to root for these - let's call a spade a spade, shall we? - for these drug dealers? Is it ok to do so - as long as the person slinging the dope isn't your everyday ghetto dweller (and only doing it because she "has to" - unlike those ghetto dwellers, who must so obviously enjoy the fringe benefits of living a life of crime that they don't follow their True Calling in life)? See, maybe it's Just Me, but I can't quite get around the hypocrisy of the whole situation, especially in an era where (in *this* country, anyway), there's little sympathy shown for people that do exactly that: sell dope because, in their minds at least, they _have_ to. Makes it kinda hard to laugh at someone doing it to keep a 300-year-old house, you know?
Maybe the humor is in the cute way that Grace takes her first drag, to experience what it is she's selling, for her edification. Maybe there's humor in the Upstanding Town Ladies getting high from mistaking cannabis leaves, for tea leaves. Maybe the cuddly doc-as-dopehead is humorous. They all are, humorous, really; the townspeople were folks I wouldn't mind having as neighbors, the doctor could teach his American colleagues a thing or two about how to work with their patients, and there's something quite cozy about a town staying up each night to watch your greenhouse light up like a bottle rocket. And maybe SAVING GRACE is on the same continuum as, say, a Cheech And Chong flick. No? Alright then: if not, *why not*, hmmm? Hey, I'm willing to listen; tell me the difference, at base, between Grace lighting up, Cheech (or Chong) lighting up, and Shaniqua From The Projects lighting up. I'm all ears.
Anyway...the performances in "Grace" were all solid, even though near the end the story started to get less and less credible. The scenery was beautiful, the actors comfortable in their roles, and the writing was fairly tight (though I found myself lost at times, trying to compare British/metric measures to the ones we silly Yanks use. Hey, it never caught on here; sue me). As Grace, Brenda Blethyn mixed humor and pathos quite well, and presented the audience with a performance that puts some of our best and brightest young movie stars, to shame; given her storyline, she could've easily stunk up the screen, and it is to her credit that she was able to cultivate what might have been a pathetic character, into what ended up as a beautiful blossom. The same could be said about much of the rest of the cast, especially Martin Clunes as the dopey doc; and when his character uttered the line (paraphrased) "Why is marijuana illegal, yet the drug alcohol, is not?", I wanted to shout "preach, brudda!"
On the whole, the movie was enjoyable enough, and in a perfect world, that would be all that needed to be said. My problem is that the ongoing War On [some] Drugs here in the New World, made SAVING GRACE lose a little something in the translation.
The "Black Factor" [ObDisclaimer: We Are Not A Monolith]: A quick recap, first: in my review of COYOTE UGLY a few weeks back, I mentioned a game called "Spot The Spot", and suggested that interested readers contact me by email to find out what the game was about. "Spot the Spot" is a pasttime The Diva and a friend hipped me to (and that I wasn't very comfortable with at first). The idea apparently came from watching too many Woody Allen movies; you know, the ones where he's in deeply-urban Manhattan, yet there's no Black or Brown folks to be found? As most of you who emailed me guessed, "Spot The Spot" is a game where you note the Black or Brown token in a movie, the one that you *know* was put there for Inclusion's sake. In "Coyote", it was the Black guy abstractedly dancing with the White woman at wazzername's friend's wedding (and no, Tyra Banks didn't qualify as Spot. Three guesses as to why - and the first two are wrong).
Another example, relevant to this weekend's movies: while watching SAVING GRACE yesterday, I noticed Spot (in the form of an offensive-looking - to me - and rather large, "pickaninny"-type doll in one scene) primarily because there were no Blacks in the movie at all, up until then. Thing is, though, it was _natural_ for there to have been no Blacks in that movie's setting, so Spot *was* out of place (and particularly so in that scene. For the life of me, I don't know why that small town would have the Black equivalent of an Indian Chief Cigar Stand in its window). Contrast this with the other movie I saw yesterday: Whipped. This was a movie that took place in New York City, where I'd fully expect to see an abundance of not only Black folk, but all kinds of Ethnic People. Yet, it wasn't until one of the last scenes that I saw Spot, in the form of one of Mia's girlfriends. In full neck-twisting mode.
I don't know whether to be (more) offended by "Grace"'s version of Spot, or "Whipped"'s .
Bammer's Bottom Line: Yes, it's just jokes, I know. Yes, British Humor is an acquired taste. And yes, everything doesn't have to be about race and the assumptions one makes based upon who is holding the joint at the time. But my mind keeps jumping back to this question, which I'd like to hear an honest answer to: in America, at least, given our attitudes about The War On [some] Drugs, and our (mis)perceptions and prejudices about who is a criminal and who isn't, how different a movie would this have been if the little old lady in question, wasn't a little old _White_ lady?
Never mind; I already know the answer to that one. Time to call a truce on this hypocritical War, I say.
SAVING GRACE (rating: flashing yellowlight): You don't have to be high to enjoy this flick - but being English might help.
Rose "Bams" Cooper /~\ Webchick and Editor, /','\ 3BlackChicks Review /','`'\ Movie Reviews With Flava! /',',','/`, Copyright Rose Cooper, 2000 `~-._'c / EMAIL: bams@3blackchicks.com `\ ( http://www.3blackchicks.com/ /====\
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