Mac's stage presence is mesmerizing, gathering power with every round of laughter. By the end of his segment, the audience is empowered by his courage and candidness. Clunky script devices continually squeak and rattle throughout the The Patriot . The Patriot is an uncomfortably smooth ride over mixed terrain of emotional posturing, flashy action sequences and cultural misrepresentation. The bulk of the action takes place on the football field.
Every scene is utterly predictable.
Even the formidable Gene Hackman couldn't save this giant gridiron groaner. Another refreshingly politically incorrect British comedy, Saving Grace stars Brenda Blethyn as an upper-crust villager whose late husband has left her in debt. Blethyn grounds her character with her depiction of the sorrow of a loveless marriage, but the film destabilizes slightly when Grace ventures to London to find a dealer. The actors succeed in making their characters seem like real people, especially Valerie Edmond who plays Nicky, Matthew's pregnant girlfriend. Gentle, and whimsical, in spite of its subject matter, Saving Grace is not an earthshaker, but certainly a worthy comedy.