Verdict
Summary
Getting Grace is a little on the long side and not something I would want to sit through on a regular basis but Getting Grace is a quirky, heartwarming and funny romantic comedy with plenty of drama and entertaining characters.
Plot: Grace, a teenage girl dying of cancer crashes a funeral home to find out what will happen to her after she dies but ends up teaching the awkward funeral director, Bill Jankowski how to celebrate life.
Review: Getting Grace may not seem like fun Saturday night fare; it is after all about a young girl who is dying of cancer so you wouldn’t go in expecting it to be a barrel of laughs. This is a subject that has affected most of us in our lives and personally speaking it makes it a tough watch. However, I urge you to stick with it as despite the serious subject matter Getting Grace is a touching and heartfelt romantic comedy with gentle humour and memorable characters.
During the first half of the movie I don’t think I “got” Grace and thought her personality was rather odd and frankly unappealing but as the story goes on we understand her more and really the heart of the story is how our lives affect other people.
This must have been a tough role for Madelyn Dundon who plays our lead Grace and watching her deteriorate is tough to do but her strength and personality keeps us engaged.
I loved seeing Dana Ashbrook who was one of my favourite actors from Twin Peaks in such a big role; Ron is a far different character from Bobby as he tries to help Grace through her troubled times.
Despite all the death there are several love stories that develop and Daniel Roebuck’s uptight Bill is very entertaining. He doesn’t understand Grace or her strange sense of humour but underneath it all he is dreading losing her as she brightens up his life trying to make him “normal”.
Roebuck also directed the picture and this is a story that is clearly close to his heart.
It is a little on the long side and not something I would want to sit through on a regular basis but Getting Grace is a quirky, heartwarming and funny romantic comedy with plenty of drama and entertaining characters.