Greenfingers

2000 - Dir.: Joel Hershman
Shown at The FeckenOdeon on 26th September, 2009

Now here’s a curious thing - a thoroughly British comedy... made by Americans! Having noticed the success of films like "The Full Monty" the MGM studio bosses grabbed a script based on a true story and hoped to make a fast buck on the back of a wave of British success. "Greenfingers" trades almost entirely on the laughable notion of hardened criminals delicately pruning their roses. But here's the rub - big muscular guys pruning roses is funny - and charming. Add a jolly performance from one of the UK’s toughest Dames, an unlikely love story and some pretty pictures of flowers and you have a recipe for commercial success... but then Americans never did understand the vagaries of the British. The film generated only a modest cashflow at the box office despite the effortlessly warm performances, especially from Clive Owen and David Kelly, two of the sweetest and unlikeliest jailbirds you could ever hope to meet doing time. This perhaps isn’t the greatest movie ever made but its American funded Britishness makes its gentle pace and whimsical humour not only cosily comfortable but positively heartwarming. Not every film has to be a blockbuster!