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

In July 2009, clips of the movie were used in the first-ever [[vidding|fan made video]] to include footage from the original music video of the backing song mixed in with footage of the object of fandom (the video was set to the song "[[Sugar, We're Goin Down]]" and featured footage from the original video of [[Fall Out Boy]] playing the song and jumping around with their instruments.)


==Plot==
==Plot==

Revision as of 22:30, 11 November 2009

Saving Grace
Saving Grace poster
Directed byNigel Cole
Written byMark Crowdy
Craig Ferguson
Produced byMark Crowdy
Xavier Marchand
Cat Villiers
StarringBrenda Blethyn
Craig Ferguson
CinematographyJohn de Borman
Edited byAlan Strachan
Music byMark Russell
Distributed by20th Century Fox
Release dates
May 19, 2000
(see release history)
Running time
93 min.
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Budget$4,000,000[1]
Box office$24,325,600[1]

Saving Grace is a 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."[2]

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.[1] In addition, the picture was awarded by the Norwegian International Film Festival and the Munich Film Festival, also spawning a BAFTA Award nomination for Crowdy,[2] and ALFS Award, Golden Globe and Satellite Award nominations for Blethyn and her performance.[2]

In July 2009, clips of the movie were used in the first-ever fan made video to include footage from the original music video of the backing song mixed in with footage of the object of fandom (the video was set to the song "Sugar, We're Goin Down" and featured footage from the original video of Fall Out Boy playing the song and jumping around with their instruments.)

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.[3]
  • 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."[4]
  • 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.[4]
  • 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

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.[5] 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.[5]

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.[5] Having originally opened at 30 screens,[5] 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.[1][5] It eventually grossed £12,178,600 overseas.[1]

Critical reaction

The critical reception of the film was fairly positive, with Rotten Tomatoes giving the film a 62% Fresh approval,[6] and the review scores aggregate website Metacritic giving it a 62/100 rating.[7] 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.[8] Roger Ebert gave the film a "two thumbs up" rating,[9] 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."[9] However, he criticized the film for its "more or less routine" ending: "We're left with a promising idea for a comedy, which arrives at some laughs but never finds its destination."[9] 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."[10]

Soundtrack

Music from the Motion Picture album

Untitled

Track Listing

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

Release history

Region Date
Ireland May 19 2000
United Kingdom
Switzerland June 15 2000
Switzerland June 15 2000
United States August 4 2000
Germany August 17 2000
Norway September 1 2000
Sweden
Netherlands September 17 2000
Israel October 5 2000
New Zealand
Australia October 12 2000
South Africa October 20 2000
France October 25 2000
Hong Kong November 9 2000
Belgium December 6 2000
Italy December 13 2000
Iceland December 22 2000

Awards

Won

Nominated

Spin-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.

References

  1. ^ a b c d e ""Saving Grace"". The-Numbers.com. Retrieved 2008-02-13.
  2. ^ a b c ""Awards for Saving Grace"". IMDb.com. Retrieved 2008-02-14.
  3. ^ ""Interview"". Reel.com. Retrieved 2008-02-14.
  4. ^ a b ""Production Notes"". Official website. Retrieved 2008-02-14.
  5. ^ a b c d e ""Grace saves Hollywood summer"". BBC News. Retrieved 2008-02-13.
  6. ^ "Saving Grace (2000)". rottentomatoes.com. Retrieved 14 February 2008. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dateformat= ignored (help)
  7. ^ "Saving Grace by Fine Line Features". Metacritic. Retrieved February 14. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  8. ^ "Saving Grace review". Allmovie. Retrieved February 14. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  9. ^ a b c "Saving Grace review". RogerEbert.com. Retrieved February 14. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  10. ^ "Saving Grace review". NYtimes.om. Retrieved February 14. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
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