Greetings,
I love a good biopic. I love knowing the stories of the lives of great, and sometimes not so great people. Come to think of it, I even love a biopic when it's not one. At least, not technically. Enter the words "loosely based on". That is the case with the movie Grace of My Heart. Spoilers coming.
Released in 1996, Grace of My Heart is a film about a young female singer/songwriter in the fifties, sixties and seventies as she starts her career and builds a name for herself. Yeah, it's Carole King. It's Carole King with straight hair. Let's just admit it. Like I said, it is "loosely based on" her life, though not all that loosely, and I'll get into that later as I will try to point out the parallels to real life. This one might get wordy and detailed, and there will be spoilers. I can't help it; there's just a lot of stuff here. Let's begin.
This is the story of Edna Buxton, a young woman from a very wealthy family who wants to be a singer and a songwriter. She is played by Illeanna Douglas, an actress who I absolutely love. She is cute but not obnoxiously gorgeous, and she has an awkwardness mixed with an inner strength. All of this made her perfect for the role.
We begin with Edna preparing for a singing contest. Her mother, who is not crazy about her aspirations, wants her to sing "You'll Never Walk Alone" and wear a white princessy dress, contrasting the black one Edna wants. She goes along with this plan until she meets a fellow competitor and fantastic singer Doris, played by Jennifer Leigh Warren. I don't think I've seen her in anything else, but she was great here. Anyway, Doris convinces Edna to sing "Hey, There" by Rosemary Clooney instead, because you can't get more rebellious than a Clooney. Look, it was a simpler time. Also, the girls switch dresses so now Edna gets to wear a black dress. Yay! As we see some of the competition, it is clear, at least to Edna, that Doris should win. Of course, she doesn't, and I always thought it implied that is has to do with the fact that she's black. Edna is named the winner, and she moves to New York to pursue the music. At first, things don't work out so well, but they begin to look up. For all of us. Prepare yourselves for some awesomeness.
Enter, the man himself, John Turturro. I love him, and he is unbelievable in this film. As great as I thought he was in Quiz Show, he is just as amazing here. Anyway, he plays a record producer named Joel Milner, who contacts Edna after hearing a recording of a song she wrote, "In Another World". But alas, girl singers are out, and what he wants is to buy the song to give to a group of guy singers. Once she hears the guys sing, she agrees to it. Something else she agrees to, albeit reluctantly, is Joel changing her name to Denise Waverly (which is what I will be calling her from now on) and also, let's say, amending her background. No longer is she a steel heiress but a woman from a blue collar, working class family. Hey, whatever sells. All of this leads to Denise getting a job as a professional songwriter at the Brill Building. Now this is one thing they did not alter, because the Brill Building did exist back in the day, It was where all the songs for the popular artists came from. And guess who worked there - Carole King!
Despite the fact that Joel says girl singers can't be sold, Denise brings in her old pal Doris and two of her friends, who form The Luminaries, to perform a song that they inspired, "Born To Love That Boy". It becomes a surprise hit, which makes Denise and her songs even more sought after. She meets a very eccentric fellow songwriter named Howard Caszett played by Eric Stoltz in a role that I would not have expected from him, especially the way he behaves in the initial introduction, but he pulls it off very well in the long run.
Despite a critical first meeting, Howard and Denise decide to start writing together and, you know, other things together. I guess he's the Gerry Goffin here. Their first song is called "Unwanted Number" about a twelve (yes, twelve) year old girl who gets pregnant by her sixteen (yes, sixteen) year old boyfriend. It is completely taken from what is happening to Annie, the niece of one of the Luminaries. And she does become an important character in the film later. Obviously, this song is very controversial and banned by several radio stations. Ironically soon after this, Denise discovers that she is pregnant, so she and Howard get married.
Also in the midst of all this, we are introduced to Cheryl played by Patsy Kensit, a new songwriter partnered with her husband Matthew, briefly played by Chris Isaak. Though Denise sees her as a possible threat, she and Cheryl begin to write together, at the insistence of Joel, but they do become very good friends. It is a friendship that is solidified by the end of Denise's relationship with Howard. I won't go into detail about that, because a lot of touchy things are involved and it will cause a whole other topic to begin. So, onward.
A few years later, things have changed a lot. Annie and her son have become close with Denise and her daughter, and Denise is beginning a relationship with John Murray, a radio DJ played by Bruce Davison. Oh, that's good. She's finally moving on with her life and finding love. Well, it would be good if he wasn't married. Oh, snap. This can't end well, and it doesn't. Actually, I was not crazy about this thing, because for me, it briefly makes the character unlikable, especially concerning what caused the demise of her marriage to Howard. But, when it's over, her following depression leads her to take a stab at recording one of her songs herself, with the help of a producer named Jay Phillips played by Matt Dillon. I'm not a huge Matt Dillon fan, but he really captured the ups and downs of this complex character. Anyway, Jay is a member of a band that plays "beach music", but he is considered a musical genius who has done some innovative things as a producer. Sound familiar? Oh, you just wait.
So Denise records her song, which I will discuss later. It is not a huge hit, and that, along with bands like the Beatles who write their own songs, puts an end to the Brill Building. Still, it leads to her marriage to Jay and a move to California. It is here that she begins to see some problems with her husband, erratic behavior and whatnot, and it is clear that he has some mental problems. In case you haven't guessed it, he is the Brian Wilson. Of course, there are some differences. First, Carole King was never involved with him, but I have heard that Gerry Goffin had some mental instabilities later in life. This may have played a part in the development of the character. Oh, and (major spoiler!) Brian Wilson did not die, but this guy does. And he dies in a suicide by drowning, which may have been a nod to Brian's brother Dennis, who died in a drowning accident. Denise is completely broken by this and ends up moving her little family to a commune led by a man named Guru Dave. So, yeah, it's one of those late 60's communes you would expect. But that character only appears in voice over. Peter Fonda's voice to be exact.
After an extended stay, one day Joel shows up! Hooray! I think Annie put it best when she lifts her arms and says, "Thank you, Lord, for New Yorkers!" Well said. Anyway, he arrives to get them the heck out of there and take them to a hotel. And here is where we get, I think, the best scene in the movie. Denise sits by the pool, wallowing in self pity as she has been doing since Jay died. Joel confronts her about this, basically telling her to snap out of it,and they begin a fantastic shouting match. But the rage that Denise is spitting at Joel is quickly turned to overwhelming grief for the man she loved and lost as she collapses, weeping, into Joel's arms. This whole scene is absolutely breathtaking and both of these actors should be commended for their performances.
We then move on and finish with Denise finally recording her solo album, her Tapestry, if you will, which is called Grace of My Heart. To help her with it, she has brought in her longtime friends, Cheryl and Doris, as well as some of Jay's old band members. Denise tells Joel about the songs she has written for all the men that have passed through her life. He feels left out, until she sits at the piano and proceeds to play a song meant for him. It is called "A Boat on the Sea", but it does feature the line "grace of my heart". The song and the ending are beautiful. And speaking of songs, let me discuss the music.
This entire soundtrack is fantastic. Since so many of the main and secondary characters were based on real acts from that era, we do get a lot of songs that are, not copies, but homages to originals. One great song, which was actually that first single for Denise, was called "God Give Me Strength", and it was written by Elvis Costello and Burt Bacharach. It is their performance of the song which is featured on the CD soundtrack, and it is an extremely powerful song. Nothing short of what you would expect from them. Now I must mention someone else about whom you all may not know, but you should. Though I do praise Illeanna Douglas for her acting in this film, the woman, it seems, cannot sing. So for all those songs her character must perform, she is dubbed by a wonderful singer named Kristen Vigard, who is also an actress with a pretty good resume and part of the "Annie Club" as I call it. By that, I mean she played Annie. She really did an amazing job with this, of course, because of what a talented singer she is, but I also thought her singing voice was a near perfect match for Douglas's talking voice. It seemed almost destined to be.
Okay, I am obviously recommending this movie. I know I basically told the whole story here, but I could have typed up the script and still told you to see it. That's because you have to SEE it. You have to see these performances. They are incredible, and whatever I tell you can't capture that. Plus, the music here is just phenomenal and goes so well with the film that it must be heard. It's just an overall great movie and a must see.
Love and full moons,
Becky the Writer
