my summer was recently saved by two very different movies . 
on opening night , i saw american pie 2 and laughed like a moron . 
then a few nights later , i watched and thoroughly enjoyed joel hershman's greenfingers even though it didn't feature a trip to band camp , girl-on-girl action , or seann william scott . 
however , i felt just as good leaving american pie 2 as i did after leaving greenfingers , which tells the offbeat tale of british murderer colin briggs ( clive owen of croupier ) . 
after spending roughly half of his life behind bars , he is transferred to a more lenient facility , edgefield . 
the picaresque , rustic prison allows its inmates to learn a trade , while enjoying accommodations generally found at most colleges . 
at first , briggs doesn't want to be there . 
he's used to living as a prisoner and wants to be left alone . 
however , his ailing roommate , fergus ( david kelly of waking ned devine ) , wears briggs down through his benign nature . 
the two become friends , with fergus giving colin a packet of violet seeds as a christmas gift . 
briggs is astonished when the violets grow in the limestone soil , and begins a fight with three other prisoners when an errant soccer ball smashes his beloved flowers . 
after the prison's governor ( warren clarke ) reprimands them , he's awed at what briggs has accomplished . 
and he's struck by an idea -- briggs , fergus and the other men will grow a garden on the prison's grounds . 
greenfingers , which is " inspired by actual events , " becomes a bit like a sports movie after that . 
despite their differences , the men come together and through hard work and love earn a spot at the big game -- in this case a prestigious garden show . 
one renegade , in this case , briggs , will prove to have talent . 
of course , love will also rear its head ( no , not " prison love " ) . 
to hershman's credit , he doesn't pump up the drama or try for cheap laughs , like last year's lame marijuana comedy saving grace . 
i had to keep pinching myself when i didn't see a single scene of a hardened con sneezing over a pot of pansies , or the men giving high-fives over a particularly stunning batch of wildflowers . 
the movie deals with people and scores on that concept . 
it's wonderful seeing briggs turn from a bitter prisoner to a man who cares again . 
give credit to owen for keeping his cool in a part that begs for overacting . 
his speech to the parole board about being reborn through gardening is the best scene of its kind since morgan freeman's last stand in the shawshank redemption . 
owen's bedside scenes with kelly , who lends the film a human touch , are a marvel to behold , emotionally gripping without being sappy . 
written by hershman , greenfingers contains plenty of laughs . 
most come courtesy of helen mirren , who shines as the world-class gardener who works with the inmates but fears for her daughter primrose ( natasha little ) when she starts dating briggs . 
the mother can't believe what he'll do if her daughter " burns the sunday roast . " 
nothing is forced in greenfingers . 
the funny lines come forth naturally in conversations and not from punch lines . 
primrose and briggs' relationship takes awkward steps . 
even when briggs decides to go back to edgefield , it's done for reasons of loyalty , not because the movie requires him to do so . 
after grimacing through the forced screwball antics of movies like america's sweethearts and the princess dairies , it's an almost indescribable pleasure to see a director taking his time to tell a story very well . 
