Saving Grace (2000 film)

Infobox Film
name = Saving Grace


caption = "Saving Grace" poster
director = Nigel Cole
producer = Mark Crowdy
Xavier Marchand
Cat Villiers
writer = Mark Crowdy
Craig Ferguson
starring = Brenda Blethyn
Craig Ferguson
music = Mark Russell
cinematography = John de Borman
editing = Alan Strachan
distributor = 20th Century Fox
released = May 19, 2000
(see release history)
runtime = 93 min.
country = United Kingdom
language = English
French
budget = $4,000,000
gross = $24,325,600cite web|title="Saving Grace"|work=The-Numbers.com|url=http://the-numbers.com/movies/2000/GRACE.php|accessdate=2008-02-13]
website = http://www.saving-grace-movie.com/index_flash.html
amg_id =
imdb_id = 0195234

"Saving Grace" is a Golden Globe-nominated 2000 British comedy film, directed by Nigel Cole and based on a screenplay by Mark Crowdy and Craig Ferguson. It was co-produced by Fine Line Features, Homerun Productions, Portman Entertainment, Sky Pictures, and Wave Pictures and filmed in London and the villages of Boscastle and Port Isaac in Cornwall, starring Brenda Blethyn, Ferguson, and Martin Clunes, among others. Distributed by 20th Century Fox in major territories, the film premiered at the 2000 Sundance Film Festival, where it won Cole the Audience Award for "World Cinema."

Critical reaction to the film was generally positive and it received favorable notice for an independent British comedy film, eventually grossing $24,325,600 worldwide, following its theatrical release in the United States. In addition, the picture was awarded by the Norwegian International Film Festival and the Munich Film Festival, also spawning a BAFTA Award nomination for Rowdy, and ALFS Award, Golden Globe and Satellite Award nominations for Blethyn and her performance.cite web|title="Awards for "Saving Grace"|work=IMDb.com|url=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0195234/awards|accessdate=2008-02-14]

Plot

Unexpectedly widowed, prim and proper housewife Grace Trevethyn finds herself in dire financial straits when she inherits massive debts her late husband had been accruing for years. Faced with losing her house, she decides to use her talent for horticulture and hatches a plan to grow potent marijuana which can be sold at an astronomical price, thus solving her financial crisis. Grace and her gardener's efforts to hide their illegal enterprise from the quaint and curious townsfolk and market their product comprise the remainder of the film.

Cast

*Brenda Blethyn as Grace Trevethyn, a middle-aged newly widowed woman who is faced with the prospect of financial ruin and turns to growing marijuana under the tutelage of her gardener in order to save her family home. Blethyn, who was Ferguson's first choice, signed on the movie for two years before shooting.cite web|title="Interview"|work=Reel.com|url=http://www.reel.com/reel.asp?node=features/interviews/savinggrace/2|accessdate=2008-02-14]
*Craig Ferguson as Matthew Stewart, Grace's gardener. Ferguson created the playful character with himself in mind. "I saw him as a decent chap who happens to like a bit of marijuana," Ferguson said. "He really cares about Grace and he wants to save her."cite web|title="Production Notes"|work=Official website|url=http://www.saving-grace-movie.com/synopsis_flash.html|accessdate=2008-02-14]
*Martin Clunes as Dr. Martin Bamford, a friend of Matthew. Clunes' character was spun-off into a pair of "prequel" films focusing on how he ended up in Cornwall, and later reworked into the ITV television series "Doc Martin", which states in its ending credits that the character was derived from the film "Saving Grace".
*Valerie Edmond as Nicky, Matthew's frowning girlfriend. Edmond won the role of the village's fishing captain in a large open casting call.
*Tcheky Karyo as Jacques Chevalier
*Jamie Foreman as China MacFarlane
*Bill Bailey as Vince
*Diana Quick as Honey Chambers
*Tristan Sturrock as Harvey
*Phyllida Law as Margaret Sutton
*Linda Kerr Scott as Diana Skinner
*Leslie Phillips as Rev. Gerald Percy
*Paul Brooke as Charlie
*Ken Campbell as Sgt. Alfred Mabely
*Clive Merrison as Quentin Rhodes

oundtrack

"Music from the Motion Picture" album

Infobox Album
Name = Saving Grace
Type = Soundtrack
Longtype =
Artist = Various Artists


Released = May 15, 2000
Recorded =
Genre = Pop
Rock
Film music
Length =
Label = WEA
Producer = Mark Russell
Reviews = * Allmusic Rating|3|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=&sql=10:2dw67uq0b0jg link]
Last album =
This album =
Next album =

Track Listing
# "Introduction" (Mark Russell) – 1:02
# "Grace's Theme" (Mark Russell) – 2:42
# "Take a Picture" (Filter) – 5:55
# "Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me)" (Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel) – 4:07
# "Spirit in the Sky" (Norman Greenbaum) – 3:56
# "Will You Give Me One? (film dialogue) – 1:12
# "Sunshine at Last" (Koot) – 4:31
# "Grace in Notting Hill" (Mark Russell) – 2:57
# "Human (Tin Tin Out Mix)" (The Pretenders) – 3:52
# "Drugden" (Mark Russell) – 2:46
# "Might as Well Go Home" (Plenty) – 3:17
# "Would You Like Some Cornflakes? (film dialogue) – 0:22
# "Wise Up (Car Port Mix)" (AFT) – 3:12
# "New B323" (film dialogue) – 0:41
# "Cornwall Chase" (Mark Russell) – 3:01
# "Accidental Angel" (Sherena Dugani) – 3:57
# "Witchcraft" (Robert Palmer) – 3:17
# "All Things Bright and Beautiful (Mark Russell) – 2:51

Release history

Reception

Commercial success

The film was released on May 19, 2000 in the United Kingdom and Ireland, where it grossed £3,000,000 during its theatrical run. Although it took a tenth of simultaneously-released "Gladiator"'s box office haul only, "Saving Grace" was, however, considered a "good showing" in consideration of the film's low budget.cite web|title="Grace saves Hollywood summer"|work=BBC News|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/909892.stm|accessdate=2008-02-13]

In the United States the film opened on August 4, 2000, where it soon emerged as a small box-office surprise during the slow-seasoned summer. Having originally opened at 30 screens, it was eventually showing on more than 870 theatres (Fine Line had only planned to open it across 200 screens) during its most successful weeks in early September 2000, when "Saving Grace" averaged takings of $3,351 per theatre - more than hits like "X-Men" and "Hollow Man". It eventually grossed §12,178,600 overseas.

Critical reaction

The critical reception of the film was fairly positive, with Rotten Tomatoes giving the film a 62% Fresh approval,cite web|work=rottentomatoes.com|title=Saving Grace (2000)|url=http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1099492-saving_grace/|accessmonthday=14 February|accessyear=2008] and the review scores aggregate website Metacritic giving it a 62/100 rating.cite web | url=http://www.metacritic.com/video/titles/savinggrace|title="Saving Grace" by Fine Line Features|work=Metacritic|accessdate=February 14|accessyear=2008]

Jonathan Crow from Allmovie gave the film three out of five stars, calling it "wacky British comedy" with a "Waking Ned Divine" (1998) meets "Up in Smoke" (1978)" effect.cite web | url=http://www.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=1:186623|title="Saving Grace" review|work=Allmovie|accessdate=February 14|accessyear=2008] Roger Ebert gave the film a "two thumbs up" rating, stating that "the setup of "Saving Grace" is fun, and Blethyn helps by being not just a helpless innocent but a smart woman who depended too much on her husband and now quickly learns to cope."cite web|url=http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20000804/REVIEWS/8040305/1023|title="Saving Grace" review|work=RogerEbert.com|accessdate=February 14|accessyear=2008] However, he criticized the film for its "more or less routine" endling: "We're left with a promising idea for a comedy, which arrives at some laughs but never finds its destination." Dana Stevens from "The New York Times" called the film "this summer's bait for the Anglophiles," meaning "that they're English and elderly apparently makes their antics screamingly funny to people who would turn up their noses at similar humor in a film like "Scary Movie"."cite web|url=http://www.nytimes.com/library/film/080400grace-film-review.html|title="Saving Grace" review|work=NYtimes.om|accessdate=February 14|accessyear=2008]

Awards

Won

* High Hopes Award (Munich Film Festival 2000) - Mark Crowdy
* Audience Award (Norwegian International Film Festival 2000) - Nigel Cole
* Audience Award (Sundance Film Festival 2000) - Nigel Cole

Nominated

* ALFS Award: "British Actress of the Year" - Brenda Blethyn
* BAFTA Award: Carl Foreman Award for the Most Promising Newcomer - Mark Crowdy
* British Independent Film Award
** "Best British Independent Film"
** "Best Director" - Nigel Cole
** "Best Screenplay" - Craig Ferguson, Mark Crowdy
** "Best Actress" - Brenda Blethyn
* Empire Award: "Best British Actress" - Brenda Blethyn
* Golden Globe: "Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Comedy/Musical" - Brenda Blethyn
* Golden Satellite Award: "Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture, Comedy or Musical" - Brenda Blethyn

pin-offs

Martin Clunes starred in two television film prequels to this film, made by BSkyB: "Doc Martin" and "Doc Martin and the Legend of the Cloutie", in which viewers learn that Bamford, a successful obstetrician, finds that his wife has been carrying on extramarital affairs behind his back with his three best friends. After confronting her with the news, he decides to leave London and heads for Cornwall, which he remembers fondly from his youth. Shortly after he arrives, he gets involved in the mystery of the "Jellymaker" and, following the departure of the village's resident GP, decides to stay in Port Isaac and fill the gap himself.

Clunes' company tried selling the franchise to ITV who generally liked it, but felt the character of Martin Bamford needed a little something more to him than just being a "townie" who is a little out of his depth in the country. ITV wanted something a little more edgy, so Clunes came up with the idea of the doctor being unusually grumpy. Out of that idea a new series, also called "Doc Martin" was born. This series is nowadays still a huge success in the UK and the end titles mention that it is "derived from Saving Grace" too.

Notes

External links

* [http://www.saving-grace-movie.com/index_flash.html Official site]
*imdb title|id=0195234|title=Saving Grace
*amg title|id=1:186623|title=Saving Grace
*Ymovies title|1800354261|Saving Grace
*rotten-tomatoes|id=1099492-saving_grace|title=Saving Grace
*metacritic film|id=savinggrace|title=Saving Grace