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Simply Perfect

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

The acting in this movie is really good.

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties. It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

We watched this on DVD last night, New Year's Eve. It says this movie was "inspired" by real events, but I take it the characters are all fictitious. I actually found a Colin J. Briggs who writes gardening books, but I was not able to find out if he is who the main character is based on.Clive Owen is Colin Briggs, and the opening of the movie has him throwing a trash can through the window of a flower shop, getting some yellow roses, and delivering them by bicycle to the home of Primrose, as a way of saying 'goodbye.' Then he calmly waits for the police wagon to pick him up. We find out much later that this is actually near the end of the story and most of the movie is told as a form of flashback.Briggs is in prison because in a fit of passion, as a very young man, killed someone. After 15 years he just figures he will never get out. But a new program designed to prepare prisoners for eventual parole, and skills for a job, has him transferred to a low-security compound. There are no fences and each prisoner shares a dormitory style room with one other prisoner.Briggs finds himself roomed with veteran actor David Kelly as Fergus Wilks, who looks like he won't live too much longer. Wilks was in prison for killing his 3 wives, he became a very bad person when on the booze and turned himself in to avoid further such incidents. He doesn't plan to ever get out. But he and Briggs eventually form a very close friendship.The meat of the story gets going when the governor of the prison asks the inmates to fashion a garden on the grounds. Even though none of them ever did anything like this they took to it, read books, and made a very attractive flower garden. This caught the attention of Helen Mirren as famous master gardener Georgina Woodhouse (which I found today is a very common name in England).Briggs was the natural leader of the group of inmate gardeners, he quickly developed a sense of how to do things. In the process he developed an attraction to Natasha Little as Primrose, the daughter of Georgina. Primrose had no gardening talent, but otherwise a very intelligent and attractive young woman.A very nice movie, a nice story, entertaining, with very good acting. Highly recommended. While it has many romantic-comedy elements, it is not overdone at all, no slapstick.SPOILERS: We find that Briggs was in prison for killing his own brother, whom he caught in the act with the girl he was hoping to marry. He didn't really intend to kill him, but in his rage that was the result. During the story we see, Briggs is the first to be paroled, and even with the help of Georgina is unable to find a gardening job. After months he is still delivering flowers by bicycle. So he decides to return to the low-security prison and his gardening, and that is why he broke into the flower shop, it was the way he broke his parole. The yellow roses signified "goodbye". But Briggs and Primrose were able to talk again at a fancy London flower show the inmates participated in, and he asked her to wait for him when he got out again in a few months. She said she would.

'Greenfingers' is a marvelous and splendid little film. Writer and director Joel Hershman shows brilliant understanding of the British culture and the fascination towards gardening as it is superbly depicted in the film. Do not let the premise mislead you because 'Greenfingers' is about much more than 'a group of inmates interested in gardening'. Clive Owen's character Colin pretty much mentions it in one scene when the officials drop by to consider his parole. The gardens and flowers are a splendorous sight to behold. Hershman's solid writing gives us some wonderfully witty and humorous dialogues and one-liners but there are a few plot holes like how Governor Hodge handles the officials after Tony's escape, since the reputation of the 'open prison' is of utmost importance to him. The cast is first-rate and it includes an understated Clive Owen, a zesty and gorgeous Helen Mirren, a frolicsome David Kelly, a compassionate Warren Clarke, a childlike Danny Dyer, a funny Adam Fogerty and a sweet Natasha Little. Owen and Little form quite a nice pair. I also liked the background score. The songs inject further energy into the film. The beautiful visuals are picturesque rich with vibrant colours. 'Greenfingers' reminded me of the artistic values that flora brings to our lives and some nostalgic memories of when we had a garden that preoccupied us. This film is one entertaining and beautiful little movie.

No wonder the makers of "The Queen" chose Helen Mirren for the lead.In "Greenfingers" her characterisation of a TV gardener is surely based on H.M.,herself a keen woman of the soil.All that was missing was the ever - present bunch of spoiled snapping corgis digging up the borders.This is a movie that panders to what presumably is seen as the Americans' preferred image of us Brits as a bunch of basically good - natured buffoons living in a neverland of Cotswold stone houses,riding bicycles across streams set in lush rolling countryside.We have a few criminals - all sincerely repentant - some even innocent who are looked after by benign smiling governors and firm but fair prison officers who all live happily in a big old country house made of marzipan. P.G. Wodehouse might just have got away with this sort of stuff,but there is none of his sense of self - mockery here.We are quite solemnly told that the main character murdered his brother,but it's all right because he didn't mean too,and the old guy with cancer murdered three of his wives then gave himself up because he realised he was dangerous. Duh?If you are going to make a movie about prisoners redeeming themselves through gardening then do the job properly - don't sugar the pill by making them all icky - wicky sweethearts.Surely the whole point of the exercise is that gardening is therapeutic to nasty bastards,not Noddy and Big Ears.

I am a librarian, and one of my jobs is to shelve and organize our videos. I had seen this movie go out occasionally, and wondered what it was like. I was pleasantly surprised, and LOVED IT!!! All of the characters are great, especially the big, hulking yet gentle prisoner who comes to like gardening. David Kelly as Fergus Wilks was a funny, sweet and upbeat man who surprised me as to why he was in prison. I cheered on the romance between Clive Owen & "Primrose". Helen Mirren was a fantastic Martha Stewart of gardening, and a loving yet clingy mom. I loved it, and have recommended it to many people as a must see! Julie A. Roberts (:-)