| 83 |
Christian Science Monitor Gloria Goodale
Only an actress of sublime abilities could lift this material from the downright silly to something intriguingly watchable. |
| 80 |
Variety Brian Lowry
The show's blessings, however, are more earthy - beginning with Hunter, who oozes anger, sexuality and irreverence, sometimes all at once. San Giacomo is perfectly cast as her friend and sounding board, and Johnson, Rippy and Woodbine all deliver solid support, with the jailhouse sequences among the show's best. |
| 80 |
New York Magazine John Leonard
It relies on intelligence and resourcefulness rather than divine providence. |
| 80 |
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Rob Owen
Writer/creator Nancy Miller ("Any Day Now") imbues the show with touches both subtle and a little overwrought but the divine "Grace" still offers stronger characters and better stories than many other summer series. |
| 80 |
Chicago Tribune Maureen Ryan
The good news is that the smartly written "Saving Grace" is not a mess. In fact, it's one of the most distinctive new shows of the year. |
| 80 |
Salon Heather Havrilesky
Saving Grace is my second-favorite cable drama this summer ("Mad Men" being the obvious front-runner), thanks to the excellent cast (Kenny Johnson and Laura San Giacomo, among others), and the fact that Hunter plays Grace with so much authenticity and scratchy sweetness. |
| 75 |
San Francisco Chronicle Tim Goodman
All told, this series is pleasantly unexpected, taking chances on TNT when it seemed the channel's DNA wouldn't permit that level of risk. If the writing continues to hold up, viewers could be in for a better ride than the one Hunter is already taking them on by herself. |
| 75 |
San Jose Mercury News Charlie McCollum
Grace has a world of promise with thoughtful writing by Nancy Miller ("The Closer," "Any Day Now"), an intriguing take on the nature of faith and a sheer force-of-nature performance by Hunter. |
| 75 |
Chicago Sun-Times Doug Elfman
What we have here is a show Hunter has produced acceptably well and acted with immense, believable intensity. It's a fairly gritty TV role served with a spoonful of lightheartedness. |
| 70 |
TV Guide Matt Roush
Self-consciously edgy while flirting with cosmic schmaltz, Saving Grace is overdone, but not run-of-the-mill. |
| 70 |
Seattle Post-Intelligencer Melanie McFarland
This is not a shoot-the-moon, wholly unique story, but it's comforting and thoughtful. |
| 70 |
Los Angeles Times Mary McNamara
[Hunter] captures well the worn-to-the-bone, irritable and slightly skanky buzz of a person living on too little sleep and too many medicinally applied Cokes, while infusing her character with a gentle heart and a sudden, dazzling smile. But much of the rest of the show is tediously familiar. |
| 70 |
Flak Magazine James Norton
The acting is strong, the music is good, and the show's not likely to leave many viewers lacking an opinion. |
| 70 |
Slate Troy Patterson
The details of the play between Hunter and her co-stars are engrossing enough that you're glad to let the big arc sail over your head. |
| 67 |
Entertainment Weekly Henry Goldblatt
[The writers/producers] don't seem to have faith that their antiheroine and setting are compelling enough on their own, so they've added this superfluous otherworldly layer to keep views intrigued. [27 Jul 2007, p. 58] |
| 60 |
Orlando Sentinel Hal Boedeker
Hunter is so good that she may save this erratic show. |
| 60 |
Newark Star-Ledger Alan Sepinwall
The pieces shouldn't fit together--Earl's celestial presence with Grace's raging sex life, discussions of metaphysics with police procedural plots--but somehow they do. |
| 50 |
New York Post Linda Stasi
The ensemble company, including the always-wonderful Laura San Giacomo, who plays her friend, never misses a beat. Too bad this series--which tries too hard--misses a stanza or two. |
| 40 |
Hollywood Reporter Barry Garron
The main reason to watch can only be Holly Hunter.... Although she's a prisoner of the material, her performance is so good that it can distract you from this otherwise simplistic take on a complex issue. |
| 40 |
Washington Post Tom Shales
At present it suffers from a problem that predates not only television but radio and theater as well: Too many cooks, or at least too many ingredients bubbling to a busy and irritating boil. |
| 37 |
USA Today Robert Bianco
The real sin here is the way the show wastes Hunter, a terrific actress with a proven ability to make tough women compelling. |
| 30 |
Wall Street Journal Nancy DeWolf Smith
We're left with a heap of hocus-pocus that will offend some viewers and seem pretentious or silly to others. |
| 30 |
LA Weekly Robert Abele
Hunter seems to mostly flail in a show that is too unremarkable for her talents. |
