Cute little fun movie, but unrealistic about prison life. Guess they had to sweeten it up and not have it as gritty as it really is so regular folks could watch it without getting too upset to see it through. Nice to see anything, however, that shows greater human potential, even in an such an unlikely place as a prison.In a nutshell, prisoners turned gardeners are allowed to enter a snooty English(oxymoron?)garden show and guess what? They win, no surprise there(it's Rocky, remember?).The Rocky concept we see in so many movies we love to hate was here in force but was overcome somewhat by a great cast, especially Clive Owen as the main gardener and main squeeze and Helen Mirren, who was terrific as the English gardening maven who gave it all a chance to be greatness. She was terrific.And, as usual in all Rocky-type films, the little guys won out in the end, but also won out in another way...they became real human beings again and knew they had done something very special(even before they met the queen!). One of them even got the pretty girl.

I am a librarian, and one of my jobs is to shelve and organize our videos. I had seen this movie go out occasionally, and wondered what it was like. I was pleasantly surprised, and LOVED IT!!! All of the characters are great, especially the big, hulking yet gentle prisoner who comes to like gardening. David Kelly as Fergus Wilks was a funny, sweet and upbeat man who surprised me as to why he was in prison. I cheered on the romance between Clive Owen & "Primrose". Helen Mirren was a fantastic Martha Stewart of gardening, and a loving yet clingy mom. I loved it, and have recommended it to many people as a must see! Julie A. Roberts (:-)

wasn't sure what to think of this movie previous to viewing it. the title & the cover picture are, to say the least, unusual fare for Clive Owen. there is no smoldering here. i would have expected to miss it, but it wasn't a factor. in this movie he just seems to be a very sweetguy. although a very sweet guy who got on the wrong track. the steady progression of his character, his relationships with others, & what he did with all of it was fun to watch. the ending was unexpected and at the same time very cool. i never know what to expect from him. and at the same time i expect great things of him in the future. i can't wait for the next chapter.

Who could possibly give this movie a ten?! This is just one more in a long line of thoroughly, insultingly predictable, English blue-collar-underdog-makes-good stories and it was nearly unwatchable simply because it pandered so shamelessly. The entire plot, step by step, was crystal clear before the 20th minute had elapsed. The performances, even by the secondary characters, are satisfactory, even engaging. I was pleased to see David Kelly, who to this point I'd known only from Waking Ned Devine and his brilliant and hilarious turn on Fawlty Towers.Even with Clive and Helen, two of my favorites, this was terrible. A real disappointment.