Saving Grace

Written by: Mark Crowdy and Craig Ferguson Starring: Brenda Blethyn, Craig Ferguson, Valerie Edmond, Tchéky Karyo, Martin Clunes, Jamie Foreman, Diana Quick

It would seem that the comic potential of marijuana had pretty much evaporated since the heyday of Cheech and Chong. Somebody should have told the makers of “Saving Grace,” a British comedy that, for about three quarters of its length, manages to resurrect the genre pretty effectively. Until it goes gauzy and whimsical in the last 20 minutes or so, the movie is full of the eccentric characterization and loopy plotting that power so many good (and, to be fair, not so good) British comedies. At its best, the movie is possessed of great warmth and charm (think “Local Hero”).

Unfortunately, it doesn’t carry through on the strength of its comic convictions. Brenda Blethyn, who has made her mark playing shrill women on the verge (or over the verge) of nervous breakdowns, is Grace, a well-mannered Englishwoman whose scoundrel of a husband dies, leaving her penniless. She is completely at a loss as to what to do. Her well-meaning neighbors try to help as best they can, but she can’t survive on sympathy and charity forever. Grace’s only real skill is gardening; she has a well-deserved reputation for growing spectacular orchids. Meanwhile, her good-natured handyman, Matthew (Ferguson, who also co-wrote) is having a bit of a problem with his marijuana plants, and, since it seems that most of the people in the gorgeous seaside town they inhabit indulge on a regular basis, there is much hand wringing about the impending shortage of “product.” It doesn’t take a genius (and a good thing, too, for there aren’t many about) to recognize that Matthew and Grace can help solve each other’s problems, and before long, they are in cahoots, raising fabulous cannabis under ideal greenhouse conditions. The local doctor (Clunes) thinks this is basically a fine idea, but Matthew’s girlfriend Nicky (Edmond) is very worried about the prospect of Matthew going to jail.

In the best British tradition, the movie takes this improbable premise and runs with it, allowing events to unwind and the plot to develop in a manner that makes perfectly wacky sense. It also does a fine job of sketching the town’s cast of characters, and all of the actors (mostly unknown to American audiences) are completely convincing. Blethyn does stand out, however, and it is nice to see her in a role that allows her a broader range of emotion than some of her previous outings. There is a strong sequence in which she confronts Honey (Quick) a woman with whom Grace’s husband had been having an affair before his death.

But she also plays the comic scenes quite well, as when she travels to London to set up a distribution deal for her crop. She manages to hook up with Jacques (Karyo, whose role is the least convincing in the picture), a big-time drug distributor, and it looks like her money problems are over. They are, but not for the reasons you would expect, and therein lies the undoing of the picture. If it had stuck to its cheerfully amoral little tale of self-enrichment, it might have emerged as a minor classic (and this despite a few too many scenes of people acting goofy while high). Nobody aside from the most rabid anti-marijuana zealots would have minded that Grace saved herself through rather unsavory means, and the picture would have maintained its distinctive point of view.

But, in what appears to be a rather misguided attempt at political correctness, “Saving Grace” goes soft and resolves in a manner that is not only less interesting but less believable as well. You can almost feel the enthusiasm leave the audience at this turn of events; all the naughty goodwill the movie had built up fizzes right out of the theater, and that is a shame. I was surprised at the filmmakers’ miscalculation, since they had shown very good instincts up to that point. They should have recognized that with this wholly unconvincing plot turn, they may have saved Grace, but they have lost their movie. (8/29/2000)