Movie · 2000 · Crime, Comedy · 1h 33m · R · English
Curator score: 4.1/10 (26.8K ratings)
Overview
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.
Ratings
Curator score: 4.1/10
IMDb: 6.9/10
Letterboxd: 3.40/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 64%
Metacritic: 62
TMDB: 6.5/10
Director
Nigel Cole
Production
Fine Line Features, Homerun Productions, Portman Entertainment Group, Rich Pickings, Sky Pictures, Wave Pictures
Cast
Brenda Blethyn, Craig Ferguson, Martin Clunes, Tchéky Karyo, Jamie Foreman, Bill Bailey, Valerie Edmond, Tristan Sturrock, Leslie Phillips, Diana Quick, Phyllida Law, Linda Kerr Scott, Denise Coffey, Paul Brooke, Ken Campbell, John Fortune, Philip Wright, Darren Southworth, Magnus Lindgren, Dean Lennox Kelly
Where to watch
Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Prime Video with Ads
Curator Review
Verdict
A breezy, offbeat British comedy with a warm lead performance and a delightfully absurd premise. It’s more charming than sharp, but the small-town eccentricities and low-stakes criminality make it an easy recommendation for viewers who like gentle capers.
Best for
Fans of quirky British comedies
Viewers who enjoy older-woman-led crime capers
People in the mood for a feel-good, lightly subversive story
Audiences who like small-town ensemble humor
Skip if
You want a fast, high-energy crime comedy
You prefer darker or more hard-edged drug stories
You dislike broad regional humor and eccentric supporting characters
You’re looking for a tightly plotted thriller
Overview
Saving Grace is the kind of movie that turns desperation into a very polite act of rebellion. Brenda Blethyn gives the film its center of gravity, playing Grace as prim, practical, and increasingly game for the absurdity around her. The setup is outrageous, but the movie keeps its tone light and human, treating its heroine’s criminal enterprise as a last-resort act of survival rather than a glamorized scheme.
Worth noting
What makes it work is the combination of gentle comedy and local texture. The Cornish setting, the oddball townspeople, and the increasingly chaotic logistics of growing marijuana all give the film a cozy, eccentric rhythm. It’s not especially sharp or surprising, but it has enough warmth and personality to stay engaging.
Bottom line
If you like British crowd-pleasers that find humor in community, improvised schemes, and stubborn resilience, this is an easy watch. It’s a little slow to get going, but once Grace commits to the plan, the film settles into an amiable groove and lands on a satisfying note.
Top Letterboxd reviews
G_MOVIES (2.5★) · 57 likes
Finally a weed movie for your parents.
theironcupcake (4★) · 45 likes
February 20 marks Brenda Blethyn's 75th birthday, so to celebrate this superb actress I returned to one of the sweetest hidden gems in her filmography, Saving Grace. It's a gentle comedy about an English widow, Grace Trevethyn (Blethyn), who finds out shortly after her husband's funeral that he spent all of their money on failed business ventures and left her with a massive mortgage. On the verge of foreclosure, Grace finds herself entering an unexpected partnership with her gardener, Matthew… more February 20 marks Brenda Blethyn's 75th birthday, so to celebrate this superb actress I returned to one of the sweetest hidden gems in her filmography, Saving Grace. It's a gentle comedy about an English widow, Grace Trevethyn (Blethyn), who finds out shortly after her husband's funeral that he spent all of their money on failed business ventures and left her with a massive mortgage. On the verge of foreclosure, Grace finds herself entering an unexpected partnership with her gardener, Matthew… more
📀 Cammmalot 📀 (3.5★) · 39 likes
”Kinda warms the heart, Grace carrying on the local tradition of complete and utter contempt for the law.”
Simply charming.
A whimsical example of the whole quirky communities from around the world trend that was so popular in this era.
Co-written by Craig Ferguson, it’s a fun story, with fun characters, and a terrifically fun soundtrack. It starts off a bit slow, but the last half picks up speed and the whole thing ends on a nice high.
BONUS POINTS… more
mattsdad (3★) · 38 likes
Before Walter White there was Grace Trevethyn.
anniefisher987 (3★) · 29 likes
not one part of me understands why they burnt all that weed