The 2020 French comedy film The Rose Maker, directed by Pierre Pinaud, follows the story of a rose grower who hires three people with no horticulture background to help her save her business from bankruptcy. The film stars Catherine Frot, Fatsah Bouyahmed, Olivier Breitman, Olivia Côte, Vincent Dedienne, Melan Omerta and Marie Petiot. The film received generally positive reviews and in a film review published by New York Times, they praised Pinaud and described the overall tone of the film. “The director Pierre Pinaud doesn’t strain the high jinks for belly laughs, nor does he push for tears when it comes to forging the cross-class bonds between his characters. It’s a relaxed film, one that allows the audience to sit back and, if not smell the roses, then at least appreciate them.” If you enjoyed the feel-good film and you’re looking for a movie that does not require a complicated plot for a chill weekend vibe, here are five of our recommendations that will leave you feeling touched and inspired.
Greenfingers
The 2000 British comedy film Greenfingers, directed and written by Joel Hershman, shares a similar plot with The Rose Maker involving a passion for gardening. The film’s plot centers on Colin Briggs, a convicted murderer who discovers his passion for gardening when placed in a special program for prisoners. Together with the other prisoners, they cultivate a garden and find themselves competing in a flower show. The film is loosely based on a story published in The New York Times about the award-winning prisoners of HMP Leyhill, a minimum-security prison in the Cotswolds, England. The main cast includes Clive Owen, Helen Mirren, Natasha Little, David Kelly, Warren Clarke, Danny Dyer, Adam Fogerty, Paterson Joseph, and Lucy Punch. The film is predictable and it received mixed reviews but is definitely worth watching if you’re in for a feel-good movie. Roger Ebert wrote a review of the film and described the movie as “relentlessly pleasant and good-tempered, positive and eager to amuse, as it goes through the various obligatory stages of such stories.”
The Colour Room
An inspiring film that shares a similar tone with The Rose Maker is the film The Colour Room, based on the life of ceramic artist Clarice Cliff. The film follows Clarice, a woman working at a pottery factory who will make a significant contribution to revolutionizing the workplace with her talent and creativity in the industrial British midlands of the 1920s. The film stars Phoebe Dynevor in her feature film debut, Matthew Goode, David Morrissey, Darci Shaw, Kerry Fox, and Luke Norris. In The Guardian’s review, they praised Dynevor’s performance in the film saying, “there is a lovely performance by Phoebe Dynevor (Daphne the debutante in Bridgerton), who brings a breezy mischief and stubborn defiance to Clarice, who we meet in her early 20s working as a “paintress” – hand-painting patterns on to the pottery.”
Save the Cinema
While Eve tries to save her business from bankruptcy with the help of three outcasts in The Rose Maker, the British drama film Save the Cinema follows the story of hairdresser Liz Evans who leads the campaign in saving the closure of their town’s youth theater in 1993 by asking Steven Spielberg to have a special screening of Jurassic Park at the theater. The film is based on a true story and is directed by Sara Sugarman with a screenplay by Piers Ashworth. It stars Jonathan Pryce, Samantha Morton, Tom Felton, Adeel Akhtar, and Susan Wokoma. In a review published by Daily Mail they wrote “To some extent, it hits most of its intended targets – in that it’s sweet, lightweight and manages to be both amusing and touching.”
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
The 2011 British comedy-drama film The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel is a feel-good film that follows a group of pensioners who move to a retirement hotel in India only to find out that the hotel is not exactly how it was advertised. The film was directed by John Madden with a screenplay by Ol Parker based on the 2004 novel These Foolish Things by Deborah Miggach. The film features an ensemble cast including Dev Patel, Judi Dench, Celia Imrie, Bill Nighy, Ronald Pickup, Maggie Smith, Tom Wilkinson, and Penelope Wilton. Similar to The Rose Maker, the film’s plot is predictable but as The Hollywood Reporter described in their review,” The story has its share of mechanical developments. But even at its most predictable, the winning characterizations and soulful insights into aging keep the handsome film on a warmly satisfying track.” In the same article, they wrote, “The film’s pacing may be a touch leisurely for some, but its core audience no doubt will relish having time to savor the rewards of a mellow story about endearing characters learning that change is never entirely out of reach.”
The Lady In The Van
The 2015 British comedy-drama film The Lady in the Van is based on a true story about a woman named Mary Shepherd, who parked her car along the driveway of a writer named Alan Bennett. The plot centers on the bond that unfolds between the two as Shepherd lived in her van for 15 years. The film was directed by Nicholas Hytner and stars Maggie Smith and Alex Jennings, based on the memoir of the same name written by Alan Bennett. Just like The Rose Maker, the film features how people coming from different backgrounds can form special bonds of friendship. The film received largely positive reviews from critics and Maggie Smith earned a nomination for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy at the 73rd Golden Globe Awards, Best Actress in a Leading Role at the 69th British Academy Film Awards, and won Best Actress at the 43rd Evening Standard British Film Awards. Independent published a review of the film and wrote, “It is a very British comedy, which throws in references to Radio 4, Margaret Thatcher (Miss Shepherd bears a passing resemblance) and elements of slapstick. The screenplay touches on guilt, atonement and how nastily nuns can behave.”
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