Saving Grace B. Jones (2009)

In a 1950s-era Missouri town the life of a couple is thrown into chaos when the husband's sister is released from the local asylum and comes to live with the family.

Director:

Connie Stevens

Writers:

Jeffry Elison, Connie Stevens

Stars:

Michael Biehn, Tatum O'Neal, Penelope Ann Miller

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Michael Biehn	...	Landy Bretthorst
Tatum O'Neal	...	Grace Bretthorst
Penelope Ann Miller	...	Bea Bretthorst
Joel Gretsch	...	Dan Jones
Tricia Leigh Fisher	...	Ella Jean Jones
Scott Wilson	...	Reverend Potter
Piper Laurie	...	Marta Shrank
Audrey Wasilewski	...	Opal Lynn Carter
Jeff Nowinski	...	Phil Carter (as Gregory James)
Rylee Fansler	...	Carrie Staley
Evie Thompson	...	Lucy Bretthorst (as Evie Louise Thompson)
Nora Hennessy	...	Mollie Jane Carter
Liberty Smith	...	Little Opal Carter
Melinda Chilton	...	Jane Belford
Logan Alexander Moore	...	Sean Ryan (as Logan Moore)

Storyline

In a 1950s-era Missouri town the life of a couple is thrown into chaos when the husband's sister is released from the local asylum and comes to live with the family.

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Plot Keywords:

year 1951 | 1950s | f rated | period in title | character name in title | 

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Taglines:

Sometimes a broken woman cannot be fixed.

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Genres:

Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for some violent content and brief sexuality

Did You Know?

Trivia

Winner of 4 2012 New York Internatinal Film Festival Awards including Best Drama Feature, Best Director/Writer/Producer Connie Stevens, Best Actress Tatum O'Neal and Best Supporting Actress Penelope Ann Miller.

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Crazy Credits

In the end credits, the job title for Location Liaison Arlene Hostetler is misspelled "Location Liason," missing an "i" between the "a" and "s".

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Soundtracks

Suzanne
Written by Paul Taylor
Performed by Todd Taylor

User Reviews

Manipulative

I am usually very forgiving of B-grade films. I don't mind a good old- fashioned syrupy love story now and then, or some half-baked horror tale about a woman in some remote location fighting to save her family's haunted B&B . . . but this film . . . wow, I really can't forgive this one. It is so grossly manipulative, with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer, from the acting to the writing to the rainstorms of Biblical proportions. I didn't know if I was watching a Hallmark film, some silly Nickelodeon episode, or a cheap horror flick. The children are as cloying as marshmallow peeps (did no one work with these young actors, or did they just stuff them with cupcakes and candy and set them in front of the camera?). The adults--actors, director, and screen writer--didn't fare much better. I just felt bashed in the head at every turn--too much too much too much. (Towards the end of the film Penelope Miller has one of the most atrocious rain-soaked speeches I have ever seen.)

I did enjoy and appreciate Tatum O'Neal's performance. While I understand some of the harsh criticism regarding her portrayal of a severely emotionally disturbed woman, I found it to be heart breakingly realistic in the main. Of course she would drift around, half awake, half alive, twitchy and flaky and completely insecure. I actually felt sorry for this character. While I don't know how much of the story is entirely based on real events, surely placing Grace in her brother's home with his happy camper family, across the street from her former husband and his bubbly preggers wife, then given the glamorous job of sewing the baby's quilt and creating a mile-high lemon meringue pie of a ballgown for a 10 year old attending a military ball (a horrible and unnecessary story line, on several counts). . . I mean, if this is what her life has become, who wouldn't break out the sharp objects?

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

28 March 2009 (USA)

Also Known As:

Ocalić Grace B. Jones

Filming Locations:

Boonville, Missouri, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$3,500,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Shane Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

116 min

Color:

Color Black and White