Set in the beautiful misty fishing town of Port Liac in Cornwall England, SAVING GRACE--an easy-going comic gem--centers on Grace Trevethan (Brenda Blethlyn), a sweet and modest middle-aged lady, whose husband commits suicide, leaving her with his grave financial problems. While real estate agents from London prey on Grace, trying to take away her home to settle the debts, she and her faithful gardener, Matthew (Craig Ferguson), devise a plan to grow enough marijuana in her greenhouse to break even. Wiring the greenhouse with super-bright growing lamps that cause the locals to wear sunglasses at night, having the ladies for "tea" resulting in fits of laughter and silly behavior, and pulling the wool over the local vicar's eyes, the whole town gets involved in this secret "joint venture." Once Grace harvests her crop, she hits the high road to London as a pusher, trying to sell the dope to a major dealer and cash out. Director Nigel Cole has hit the nail on the head with this film. The musical score from Mark Russell has a folky, feel-good beat, and the careful filming is colorful and clear. Never once does SAVING GRACE frown on its illegal subject matter, which makes its story all the more entertaining.
