Saving Grace (Brenda Blethyn)

(Amazon UK link)

We didn’t have much idea what to expect when we decided to watch ‘Saving Grace’ last night. I’m not even sure when we acquired it, although I think it was probably at a recent charity bazaar. We didn’t know of any of the actors, and I don’t think I’ve seen it recommended anywhere.

The film starts rather depressingly with a funeral in a small village. Grace (Brenda Blethyn) is a lively middle-aged woman whose husband has just died in a fall from an aircraft without a parachute. Grace lives in a large and comfortable home with staff, and assumes that she will be reasonably well off. She quickly realises that this is not the case. Her late husband made some poor investments, and mortgaged the house. She has no money, and no way of earning…

Her gardener and caretaker Matthew (Craig Ferguson) is a likeable young man who is determined to keep working for her, even as circumstances become more difficult, and there is no way to pay him. His long-term girlfriend Nicky (Valerie Edmond) is the skipper of a fishing trawler, and there’s quite a side story involving their relationship which is both moving and inspiring. She’s a very strong - and also kind - young woman.

Matthew is involved in something a little shady and asks Grace for some help. At first, she is reluctant to give it. However when she realises that the project he is involved in could earn them both large amounts of money, she decides to take a risk. From this point the story becomes somewhat surreal, with a fair amount of humour. As the plot becomes increasingly unbelievable, the two main actors are so good that it’s easy to be carried along with their ideas, and the story in general. Excellent supporting actors, in addition to Nicky, include the doctor (Martin Clunes) and the vicar (Leslie Phillips).

It’s a genre all on its own; we both agreed afterwards that we had never seen anything similar. The main part of the film relates to a subject I know almost nothing about. There are forays into the London underworld - no doubt somewhat sanitised - as well as the mysteries of complex gardening techniques. The romantic element mainly involves the couple already mentioned, although there’s a slightly contrived ending which resolves all the problems and shows another new relationship.

The rating is 15 (R in the United States), which I assume is because of the subject matter. To say more would be a spoiler - but I think I would have put the rating nearer 12. There’s no violence and no nudity, although there’s the end of one intimate scene, some some rather frank discussion, and some humorous innuendoes. There’s not even a vast amount of bad language, although some ‘strong’ words are used.

All in all, we thoroughly enjoyed it and would recommend it to anyone who doesn’t mind a highly controversial (and illegal) subject matter.

In the extras, here is a short feature about the making of the film, which we watched and thought interesting. There are also staff/crew interviews.

Review copyright 2018 Sue's DVD Reviews

Two Weeks Notice (Sandra Bullock , Hugh Grant)

(Amazon UK link)

From time to time I browse Amazon’s recommended books and films, and add a few interesting-looking ones to my wishlist. That was the case for ‘Two Weeks Notice’ which was probably suggested because it features both Hugh Grant and Sandra Bullock. I’ve liked films with both of them in the past, and this looked, from the viewer reviews, like my favourite kind of light but reasonably intelligent romantic comedy.

I was given the DVD for my recent birthday, and we watched it last night. Sandra Bullock is entirely believable as Lucy, a somewhat disorganised lawyer who works for a charity. We meet her in the throes of lying down before bulldozers in the hope of saving her beloved local community centre.

Hugh Grant plays George, a billionaire, arrogant playboy. He does it well, but I could never quite believe in this character - the slightly awkward gentleman persona of other films was always in my mind. George’s firm is involved in knocking down the community centre, but they’re also looking for a bright, proactive lawyer. He bumps into Lucy, and manages to persuade her to take the job, promising a huge salary and also that he will save the community centre.

Lucy quickly discovers that George wants a personal assistant/PA as much as a lawyer and becomes increasingly frustrated that he expects her to answer the phone at any time of day or night, no matter how busy she is, for trivial concerns. Eventually she hands in her notice. Even that isn’t straightforward, until another young and attractive woman applies for the job.

Despite my never entirely believing in Hugh Grant as George, he and Lucy have a very good on-screen chemistry, with quick-fire dialogue and great timing. There’s some humour - we smiled several times, even chuckled once or twice - and the romance element, while inevitable, is mostly subtly done.

I appreciated, too, the contrast between faceless corporations who want to make more and more money, and the caring side of humanity which George had apparently never previously noticed. There's a political element, which I guess might upset some who tend towards capitalism, but it's not overt, nor pushed.

The rating is 12, which seems about right to me; not that it would be of much interest to anyone under the age of about 15 or 16. There are no explicit scenes, only partial nudity in a humorous context, and no violence. There are plenty of innuendoes and sexual references and some ‘strong’ language, however.

All in all, it filled the bill perfectly for a light evening’s relaxation. Don’t expect fast action or passion in this - but if you like good rom-coms, I would recommend this one, in a low-key kind of way.

Review copyright 2018 Sue's DVD Reviews

Yorkshire Pudding (Adrian Plass)

(Amazon UK link)

I bought this DVD after seeing Adrian and Bridget Plass speaking in a church in the UK some years ago. I had read all their books - and enjoyed them thoroughly - and it had been a wonderful evening of humour, poignancy and much to ponder.

So, wanting to buy something from their bookstall, I picked up the DVD entitled ‘Yorkshire Pudding’. It claims to be short vignettes, intended for discussion, perhaps in small groups. Some of the items listed were evidently from some of Adrian Plass's books, but I was interested to see them dramatised.

The DVD sat in our to-be-watched drawer for a long time, as it never seemed to be the right time to see it. Then, last night, we began watching a film we ended up throwing away. It was full of innuendoes and worse.

I had a bad taste, metaphorically speaking, in my mouth. We wanted to see half an hour or so of something wholesome, in contrast. It was too late to start watching another film, so I pulled out ‘Yorkshire Pudding’. A little ironically, the first sketch involves someone talking about a woman tempted into betraying her husband… but all ends happily and entirely satisfactorily.

There are seventeen vignette interludes on this DVD, all involving Adrian Plass. He appears mostly as himself, with typical self-deprecating humour. There are sketches about boundaries, about decision-making, about guidance, and more. Most are tinged with humour and also contain a positive message.

Bridget Plass comes into a few of the sketches too, in a variety of parts. I loved her role as an Anglican minister, discussing an upcoming joint service with the local free church minister (Adrian). They become increasingly heated as they exaggerate their differences and fight about words. The ending falls a little flat, perhaps, but the bulk of it is very well done.

We were determined only to watch five or six of these sketches, but ended up seeing ‘just one more…’ until we had seen them all. We watched the outtakes too. Many of the vignettes were based on (or taken from) sketches in various of Adrian’s books, although I’m not someone who can pinpoint the sources.

On the back, there’s an explanation of the title. It’s not just that the scenes were all set in Yorkshire. The vignettes are intended as a side dish, so to speak, to accompany a longer talk or Bible study. However, we felt they worked well as something to sit and watch straight through, particularly in contrast to what we had started watching earlier.

The scenery shown is pleasant, green and hilly, and the scripting and acting mostly excellent. Our one gripe was with the way the camera kept zooming in to give close-ups, and then zooming right out again to give a wider view. We found it quite irritating, but it appears to have been deliberate, as it happens in almost every sketch.

The content is Christian, but not churchy or preachy. Indeed, much of the humour comes from satirising some of the strange ways Christians sometimes behave in church settings. The sketch about bad Bible reading, for instance, made us laugh out loud, and reminded me somewhat of Mr Bean in church.

Recommended to anyone who wants something a little offbeat for conversation starters, perhaps with youth groups or small house groups.

Review copyright 2018 Sue's DVD Reviews