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Grow Your Own

 
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Grow Your Own

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  • Director: Richard Laxton
  • Genre: Comedy
  • Movie Type: Ensemble Film
  • Themes: Therapy, Refugees, Widows and Widowers
  • Release Year: 2007
  • Country: UK
  • Run Time: 97 minutes

Plot

British director Richard Laxton's allegorical ensemble comedy Grow Your Own concerns a most unusual therapy doled out to local refugee families in London: an analyst allots a parcel of land to each group, and asks its kinfolk to farm vegetables there. Naturally, a myriad of complications arise - from a young man named Kenny (Alan Williams, who refuses to comply with the given ordinance and paint his hut red, to Miriam (Diveen Henry), a widow who believes that the spirit of her late husband has returned in the form of one of the gardeners, Little John (Eddie Marsan), to a Chinese immigrant, Kung Sang (Benedict Wong) whose wife died when packed into a shipping container. Matters grow increasingly sticky and complex for everyone when a cell phone company turns up and insists on planting an obtrusive mast in the middle of the land. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

Credit

Richard Laxton - Director
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Wikipedia: Grow Your Own (film)
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Grow Your Own

DVD cover
Directed by Richard Laxton
Written by Frank Cottrell Boyce
Carl Hunter
Starring Benedict Wong
John Henshaw
Eddie Marsan
Pierce Quigley
Omid Djalili
Alan Williams
Philip Jackson
Olivia Colman
Cinematography David Luther
Editing by Joe Walker
Distributed by Pathé
Warp Films
Release date(s) June 15, 2007
Running time 97 min.
Country United Kingdom
Language English
Budget £2.5 million[1]

Grow Your Own is a 2007 British comedy film directed by Richard Laxton, and written by Frank Cottrell Boyce and Carl Hunter. It stars Benedict Wong, John Henshaw, Eddie Marsan, Pierce Quigley, Omid Djalili, Alan Williams, Philip Jackson, and Olivia Colman. The film centres around a group of gardeners at a Merseyside allotment, who react angrily when a group of refugees are given plots at the site, but after they get to know them better, soon change their minds. The film was previously known under the title The Allotment.[2]

Contents

Production

The original idea for the film came from Carl Hunter's involvement with the Merseyside community group "Art in Action". With the project he had worked with a number of refugees who had taken up residence in Liverpool. The refugees were each given an allotment as part of a Liverpool City Council initiative. This led Hunter to produce a series of documentaries about the lives of the refugees entitled Putting Down Roots, they were aired as part of the "3-minute wonder" slot on Channel 4.[1] Frank Cottrell Boyce saw some potential in the concept and asked Hunter if he wished to work with him to turn the real life story into a film. The film was supported by North West Vision, BBC Films and the UK Film Council.[1] Shooting for the film began on August 14, 2006, taking place for six weeks.[1] All filming took place in Merseyside, with the shoot providing numerous jobs for locals.[1]

Reception

Leigh Singer gave the film four stars, calling it "a gentle, astute, life-affirming British comedy."[3] Tom Hawker gave it three stars, praising Eddie Marsan's performance and stating "Grow Your Own has about as much edge as a prize melon, but even if the land's been well filled, there's still plenty of fertile soil here. Occasionally melancholy, often funny, this is touching, lyrical home-grown fare."[4] Kevin Maher gave three stars, noting his favourite part of the film as being "a serious discussion between the gardeners about Bob the Builder."[5] Anthony Quinn of The Independent criticised the film citing "one could wish that this parable of difference and tolerance gladdened the heart, but its effortful comedy has quite the opposite effect", as well as expressing his distaste for the film's score.[6] Catherine Chambers also disliked it, stating "Grow Your Own's twee optimism is sometimes a little too much to digest."[7]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e "Acclaimed British Writer Pairs With New Filmmaker to Make £2.5million Feature on Merseyside". North West Vision. http://www.northwestvision.co.uk/page/grow-your-own. Retrieved 2007-06-16. 
  2. ^ "The Allotment (2006)". Yahoo!. http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1809763394/details. Retrieved 2007-06-16. 
  3. ^ Leigh Singer. "Grow Your Own". Channel 4. http://www.channel4.com/film/reviews/film.jsp?id=161840&page=2. Retrieved 2007-06-16. 
  4. ^ Tom Hawker. "Grow Your Own - Film Review". Total Film. http://www.totalfilm.com/cinema_reviews/films_out_this_week/grow_your_own. Retrieved 2007-06-16. 
  5. ^ Kevin Maher (2007-06-14). "Grow your Own". Times Online. http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/film/film_reviews/article1927084.ece. Retrieved 2007-06-16. 
  6. ^ Anthony Quinn (2007-06-15). "Grow Your Own (PG)". The Independent. http://arts.independent.co.uk/film/reviews/article2660506.ece. Retrieved 2007-06-16. 
  7. ^ Cathrine Chambers (2007-06-13). "Grow Your Own (2007)". BBC. http://www.bbc.co.uk/films/2007/06/11/grow_your_own_2007_review.shtml. Retrieved 2007-06-16. 

External links


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