''Greenfingers'' is a 2000 British

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

directed Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

and written by

Joel Hershman Joel Hershman is an American film director, writer and producer. Hershman is best known for the films ''Greenfingers'' starring Clive Owen and Helen Mirren and ''Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me (film), Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me'' starring Sean Yo ...

. It is loosely based on the true story about the award-winning prisoners of HMP Leyhill, a minimum-security prison in the Cotswolds,

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, a story published in ''The New York Times'' in 1998.

Plot

When Colin Briggs, a convicted murderer, is placed in an experimental programme to finish off his

prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, corre ...

sentence, all he wants is peace and quiet. After his wise, elderly roommate Fergus, imprisoned for killing three wives, introduces him to gardening, Colin uncovers a talent and passion for

plant Plants are predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all current definitions of Plantae exclu ...

s. When he accidentally raises a patch of double-violets, the warden assigns him to cultivate a garden, with other prisoners as his assistants. Teaming up with his fellow inmates, Colin gets the attention of celebrated gardener Georgina Woodhouse. Soon, the unexpected gardeners are preparing to compete for the

Hampton Court Flower Show The Hampton Court Garden Festival (formerly The Hampton Court Flower Show) is an annual British flower show, held in early July. The show is run by the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) at Hampton Court Palace in the London Borough of Richmond u ...

. When Colin meets Georgina's beautiful daughter Primrose, he discovers another reason to fight for his freedom: true love.

Cast

* Clive Owen – Colin Briggs * Helen Mirren – Georgina Woodhouse *

Natasha Little Natasha Emma Little (born 2 October 1969) is an English actress. She is best known for her roles as Edith Thompson in the film '' Another Life'', Lady Caroline Langbourne in the BBC miniseries ''The Night Manager'', and Christina Moxam in the B ...

– Primrose Woodhouse * David Kelly – Fergus Wilks *

Warren Clarke Warren Clarke (born Alan James Clarke; 26 April 1947 – 12 November 2014) was an English actor. He appeared in many films after a significant role as Dim in Stanley Kubrick's ''A Clockwork Orange''. His television appearances included '' Dalz ...

– Gov. Hodge *

Danny Dyer Danial John Dyer (born 24 July 1977) is an English actor and presenter. Dyer's breakthrough role was as Moff in ''Human Traffic'', with other notable roles as Mick Carter in EastEnders, Billy the Limpet in '' Mean Machine'' and as Tommy Johns ...

– Tony *

Adam Fogerty Adam Heywood Fogerty (born 6 March 1969) is an English actor and former boxer and rugby league footballer. He is the son of rugby league footballer Terry Fogerty, who played in the 1960s and 1970s then coached in the 1980s. Background Foge ...

– Raw *

Paterson Joseph Paterson D. Joseph (born 22 June 1964) is a British actor. He appeared in the Royal Shakespeare Company productions of ''King Lear'' and ''Love's Labour's Lost'' in 1990. On television he is best known for his roles in ''Casualty (TV series), Cas ...

– Jimmy *

Lucy Punch Lucy Punch (born 30 December 1977) is a British actress. She has appeared in the films '' Ella Enchanted'', ''Hot Fuzz'', ''You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger'', '' Dinner for Schmucks,'' and ''Into the Woods''. She is also known for her role as ...

– Holly

Production

The film was shot in Britain in five weeks on a budget of £2 million, with the help of the

Royal Horticultural Society The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr (Nor ...

and English garden designer

Rosemary Verey Rosemary Verey, (21 December 1918 in Chatham, Kent – 31 May 2001 in Cheltenham) was an internationally known English garden designer, lecturer and garden writer who designed the notable garden at Barnsley House, near Cirencester in Glouc ...

References

External links

* * * {{Amg movie, 214165, Greenfingers
Guys, How Does Your Garden Grow?
''The New York Times'', 27 July 2001. 2000 films 2000 comedy films British comedy films British prison films Environmental films Fireworks Entertainment films Films produced by Trudie Styler 2000s English-language films 2000s British films