Review of Saving Grace

Introduction

Brenda Blethyn plays Grace who inherits the debts of her former husband. Former meaning that he jumped out of a plane with a parachute. Grace comes to the stark realisation that she`s in trouble financially and with the wolves at the door comes to despair her situation. Her gardener, Matt (Craig Ferguson) calls upon Grace`s horticultural expertise with a problem he`s having with his hemp plant. Together they manage to salvage the dying plant and hit upon the idea of growing enough marijuana to sell to solve their financial difficulties. What follows is trying to keep the production a secret in the small Cornwall village, making sure the police don`t find out and then try to find a buyer for all this gear.

This is the gist of the movie and ultimately I think it`s about ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances trying to find their feet and a way out of a tight corner. The movie could have had other `things` in place of weed I suppose, but then I don`t think it would lend itself to the same comedic moments that this film enjoys. The very fact that what Grace is doing is illegal lends more, pardon the pun, substance to the story.

Video

The quality of the video transfer is incredible and belies it`s British origins. It`s crisp, colourful, vibrant and very well balanced. Blacks are true with very well saturated colours. From the opening scene to the final frame, it looks great. Only one minor problem and this was in one scene with fast motion but even this was minor.

Saving Grace is presented here with a 1.85:1 anamorphic transfer, but from what I can gather this isn`t the correct aspect. The correct ratio is 2.35:1 and this is the correct transfer on the American disc. There are giveaway signs in the making of featurette which clearly uses a wider frame than 1.85:1. Why we get a cropped picture is beyond me, there should be no reason for it in the slightest. This film looks great as it is here, and I can`t help but feel it would look that bit better in 2.35:1.

Audio

This type of movie isn`t a surround fest so don`t expect anything special in that department. The DD5.1 soundtrack here though is very good. The dialogue and the music are well balanced and sound punchy and crisp. The soundstage is wide and you`re sure to stay fixed to your screen. When the music plays there`s a nice reassuring amount of bass without anything getting drowned out or distorted. Very nice.

Features

I have no idea what`s going on with the animated menu, it looks a bit tatty and not at all in keeping with the film. I`d rather have static menus if this is the best that can be done. The only extras here are a trailer - which doesn`t give away too much - cast interviews, and a 20 minute making of featurette. The Cast Interviews recycle parts from the main cast/crew interviews so this becomes somewhat tedious to watch and once you`ve seen it once, you`re not likely to watch again. It would have been better to combine everything together without reusing some of the same parts. There are no subtitles here either.

All extras are not anamorphically enhanced. By the way, the American disc also has a commentary track with Brenda Blethyn, Craig Ferguson and Director Nigel Cole that I would have loved to have heard.

Conclusion

I was surprised to see that Craig Ferguson is one of the scriptwriters for this film (along with Mark Growdy) since I know nothing of his writing ability. This film is well written up to a point however and I think the `light and fluffy` ending is not in keeping with the rest of the film. This is where I was slightly disappointed. For 75 minutes the film is solid and consistent, then it`s like the end was in sight and they needed to wrap the film up quick. I won`t spoil it by telling you the ending here, but needless to say that I didn`t think much of it.

This isn`t a pro marijuana movie, so let`s get this out of the way. It just happens to lend itself well to the story telling, and by the end of the film you know that it`s not really condoned in any `pro measure`. This doesn`t spoil it in the slightest, in fact I think it works quite well with the film being genuinely funny and quite enjoyable.

The cast performances are nothing short of very good, with Brenda Blethyn turning in a star performance. Craig Ferguson plays well off Brenda as Matt, Bill Bailey is well, Bill Bailey and Martin Clunes is understated and plays his comedic turn well enough to actually make me laugh for once. Tcheky Karyo is a surprise turn up for this film and while he doesn`t have a big part to play, it`s nice to see him. I have to say though that his character doesn`t have enough time to `get fresh` with Grace which is a shame since the movie ends just as things look to be heating up between them.

All this shot against the lovely Cornwall backdrop looks impressive and much more interesting than a lot of other more drab looking British films. The lighting and production design all play well and there`s never any dull or redundant looking scenery. Nigel Cole directs the film with a nice steady camera which keeps us interested in what`s going on. It all adds to a smooth flow in an otherwise character/dialogue driven film.

Saving Grace is a lovely comedy and despite my comment on the way the story ends, I still like it and would recommend at the very least renting it. If you like it then buy into the American disc for the correct aspect ratio and the cast commentary track.