Review:
Anytime you get to see the near-flawless acting of Holly Hunter, it’s a good day. And so it was that my week had a high point at 9:40 p.m. PDT as I watched the pilot episode of Saving Grace, the new TNT series.
It’s almost hard to keep up with all the Commandments Hunter’s Grace Hanadarko breaks in the opening minutes of the show. It’s only after she finishes having sex with a married man, sunning a neighbor, and heading off to work we discover she’s a cop, too. A pretty good cop from appearances. Unfortunately, it only takes her a few minutes to get into trouble, leading to an unofficial suspension. After a night of drunkenness, Grace hits and kills someone, and at last asks God for help. An angel named Earl (Leon Rippy) appears and tells her God has given her one last chance to straighten up, but that he will be there to help her stay straight, although he won’t be at her beck and call. Along the way, she works to solve the case of a missing child.
OK, I admit I am a Christian, so a premise like this really appeals to me. We all know people who have crossed lines better left uncrossed. Hunter is the perfect actress for this role, too. Cops see a lot of bad things daily. The temptation for them to cross over must be overwhelming sometimes. The exploration of this theme is long overdue.
The supporting cast has several standouts, including Laura San Giacomo who uses her medical examiner skills to deduce whether Earl is real or not. The show is shot in Alberta, Canada, which is a shame because the Oklahoma setting could have been legit. The show is shot well, though, so I suppose I shouldn’t complain too much.
In closing, this is a show I definitely want to see more of, so much so that I subscribed to the season via iTunes. Pretty much everything with Holly Hunter in it is a winner, with this being no exception. Tune your cable box to TNT on Mondays and see what all the fuss is about.