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* DeadpanSnarker: Denise. "Oh Joel. You're so manly."
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* DeadpanSnarker: Denise. "Oh Joel.Larry. You're so manly."
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* {{Gayngst}}: Poor Kelly has a bad case of this, because she's a famous teen ingenue whose relationship with her girlfriend has to kept secret. Not that she's very good at keeping it secret.
-->'''Kelly''': I mean, people have, you know, certain ideas about me that are created by my publicist and this TV show that I do. They really have no idea who I am or what my life is like, or what I go through [''starting to cry''] with the person I love. [''TearfulSmile'']\\
[''Denise and Cheryl notice Kelly and Marion glancing at each other.'']
-->'''Denise''': [''sympathetic''] You know, Kelly, boy problems are often hard.
-->'''Kelly''': I wouldn't know. -Sorry, I'm fine.
-->'''Kelly''': I mean, people have, you know, certain ideas about me that are created by my publicist and this TV show that I do. They really have no idea who I am or what my life is like, or what I go through [''starting to cry''] with the person I love. [''TearfulSmile'']\\
[''Denise and Cheryl notice Kelly and Marion glancing at each other.'']
-->'''Denise''': [''sympathetic''] You know, Kelly, boy problems are often hard.
-->'''Kelly''': I wouldn't know. -Sorry, I'm fine.
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* {{Squick}}: Joel freaks out when Denise's water breaks while she's at work.
-->'''Joel''': Everybody out!
-->'''Denise''': It's not an epidemic. I'm having a baby.
-->'''Joel''': Everybody out!
-->'''Denise''': It's not an epidemic. I'm having a baby.
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* {{Squick}}: Joel freaks out when Denise's water breaks while she's at work.
-->'''Joel''': Everybody out!
-->'''Denise''': It's not an epidemic. I'm having a baby.
-->'''Joel''': Everybody out!
-->'''Denise''': It's not an epidemic. I'm having a baby.
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Changed line(s) 48 (click to see context) from:
* StayInTheKitchen: Mostly averted. Howard admires Denise's talent and they are successful songwriting partners before they fall in love; John is a huge fan of her music and never misses a chance to tell his listeners how great she is. Downplayed with Jay, who admires her talent, produces her first record and does a great job, but when it bombs and she (temporarily) gives up music, he's fine with that and is not pleased when she wants to get back into it again.
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* StayInTheKitchen: Mostly averted. Howard admires Denise's talent and they are successful songwriting partners before they fall in love; love. When she gets pregnant he argues that she isn't going to be able to work, but she basically ignores him and he goes along with it. John is a huge fan of her music and never misses a chance to tell his listeners how great she is. Downplayed with Jay, who admires her talent, produces her first record and does a great job, but when it bombs and she (temporarily) gives up music, he's fine with that and is not pleased when she wants to get back into it again.
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* CryLaughing: Edna does this early on, when she learns that no record company is looking for white girl singers.
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* FamilyVersusCareer: Averted. Denise has barely started out as a professional songwriter when she gets pregnant, and many of the characters (such as Annie and Cheryl) end up pretty much members of her extended family, so that there's always somebody around to look after the kids.
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* TeamMom: By the end of the film, Denise seems to have become this for nearly everyone else.
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* CareerVersusMan: Largely averted, in that Edna's mom is the only character who insists that she should marry a good man rather than make music for a living. [[spoiler: It's implied that she finally changes her mind when Denise sends her a copy of her first album.]]
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* StayInTheKitchen: Mostly averted. Howard admires Denise's talent and they are successful songwriting partners before they fall in love; John is a huge fan of her music and never misses a chance to tell his listeners how great she is. Downplayed with Jay, who admires her talent, produces her first record and does a great job, but when it bombs and she (temporarily) gives up music, he's fine with that and is not pleased when she wants to get back into it again.
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* SmokingIsCool: Howard ''always'' has a cigarette in his mouth.
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* SmokingIsCool: The only times Howard ''always'' has doesn't have a cigarette in his mouth. mouth are when he's kissing Denise [[spoiler: and any other woman who takes his fancy.]]
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* ManChild: Jay, to an extent that makes him a danger to people around him (specifically, Denise's kids, who he takes to the zoo and then forgets about.)
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* BroodingBoyGentleGirl: Jay thinks that he and Denise have this kind of relationship, and to begin with she's fine with that, but as soon as she expresses the desire to get back to writing songs, his ItsAllAboutMe syndrome kicks in and he blows up at her.
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* ItsAllAboutMe: Jay has this, and the central problem of his relationship with Denise is that he thinks that her desire to have a career in music means that ''she'' has it.
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* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: God, where to start. Edna/Denise is not Music/CaroleKing. Howard is not Gerry Goffin. Joel is not Don Kirshner. The Luminaries are not The Shirelles. Kelly is not Lesley Gore, Jay's band is not Music/TheBeachBoys and Jay himself is definitely not Music/BrianWilson [[spoiler: if only because Brian Wilson is not yet dead.]]
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* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: God, where to start. Edna/Denise is not Music/CaroleKing. Howard is not Gerry Goffin. Joel is not Don Kirshner. The Luminaries are not The Shirelles. Kelly is not Lesley Gore, Jay's band is not Music/TheBeachBoys and Jay himself is definitely not Music/BrianWilson [[spoiler: if only because Brian Wilson is not yet dead.]]Music/BrianWilson.
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* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Denise unleashes a devastating one on Joel during their conversation by the pool, complete with ClusterFBomb. [[spoiler: She is utterly unprepared for the possibility that he will entirely agree with her.]]
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* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Denise unleashes a devastating one on Joel during their conversation by the pool, complete with ClusterFBomb. [[spoiler: She is utterly unprepared for the possibility that he will entirely agree with her.]]
* TheStoner: Jay.
* TheStoner: Jay.
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* GeniusDitz: Downplayed with Denise, who when we see her producing her own first album is extremely calm, confident and competent in the studio [[spoiler: even though she keeps up a muttered conversation with dead Jay the whole time.]]
** Played straight with Jay, who is clearly a bit of a flake, but who on hearing Denise perform 'God Give Me Strength' accompanied by just a piano, immediately knows how to make it into a great production and who is later seen directing the studio musicians with great energy and precision.
** Played straight with Jay, who is clearly a bit of a flake, but who on hearing Denise perform 'God Give Me Strength' accompanied by just a piano, immediately knows how to make it into a great production and who is later seen directing the studio musicians with great energy and precision.
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* FireForgedFriends: Denise and Cheryl, who start out disliking each other but who bond over the discovery of Kelly's relationship with her roommate, and the GettingCrapPastTheRadar challenge of writing a song for her.
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* FireForgedFriends: Denise and Cheryl, who start out disliking each other but who bond over the discovery of Kelly's relationship with her roommate, and the GettingCrapPastTheRadar challenge of writing a song for her.her that she can perform with conviction.
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* VitriolicBestBuds: Joel and Denise.
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* VitriolicBestBuds: Joel and Denise.Denise.
* WeirdBeard: It's not EldritchAbomination-level weird, but Joel's beard is very odd indeed.
* WeirdBeard: It's not EldritchAbomination-level weird, but Joel's beard is very odd indeed.
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* DeadpanSnarker: Denise. "Oh Joel. You're so manly."
-->'''Denise''': What exactly did you like about my record? The thickness of the vinyl?
-->'''Denise''': What exactly did you like about my record? The thickness of the vinyl?
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* NotSoStoic: Most of the film consists of Denise's experiences (divorce, unrequited love, career failure, widowhood) turning her bit by bit from a [[ThePollyanna Pollyanna]] into a StoicWoobie. Then Joel decides to have a chat with her.
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* NotSoStoic: Most of the film consists of Denise's experiences (divorce, unrequited love, career failure, widowhood) [[spoiler: widowhood]]) turning her bit by bit from a [[ThePollyanna Pollyanna]] into a StoicWoobie. Then Joel decides to have a chat with her.
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* {{Determinator}}: Joel. Nothing keeps him down.
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* PluckyGirl: Denise, who keeps being knocked over and sometimes [[TenMinuteRetirement stays down for a while]], but always gets up again.
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* NotSoStoic: Most of the film consists of Denise's experiences (divorce, unrequited love, career failure, widowhood) turning her bit by bit from a [[ThePollyanna Pollyanna]] into a StoicWoobie. Then Joel decides to have a chat with her.
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* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Denise unleashes a devastating one on Joel during their conversation by the pool, complete with ClusterFBomb. [[spoiler: She is utterly unprepared for the possibility that he will entirely agree with her.]]
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* BeardOfSorrow: Jay grows one when he can't finish his song. When he does finish it, he shaves it off.
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* HopeSpot: Denise goes to see Jay and finds out that he's decorated their room with candles and has got wine for them, has finished his song, and shaved off his BeardOfSorrow. She's ecstatic. They make love. She then wants to go out to the clubs, but he says he's going to stay as he wants to do some more work. So she goes out with Cheryl instead, leaving him alone...
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* GoodGirlsAvoidAbortion: Averted. [[spoiler: When Denise finds out that she's pregnant by Howard for a second time, her marriage is already falling apart and Cheryl convinces her to have an illegal abortion. It's successful, although she finds the whole thing traumatic.]]
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* BigApplesauce: Joel is all about this trope. So is Annie, Denise's childminder: when Joel shows up at the commune, Annie goes over to him saying fervently "Thank god, New York!"
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* TeenPregnancy: Denise overhears Annie having a tearful conversation with her boyfriend, and her and Howard's resulting song, 'Unwanted Number', is a hit. Averts the darker associations of this trope in that Annie is very sensible and level-headed, and basically joins Denise's family to help care for Denise's own kids as well as her own.
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* {{Beatnik}}: Howard.
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* SmokingIsCool: Howard ''always'' has a cigarette in his mouth.
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* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Joel is this, although his layer of Jerkass is quite thin and is really a combination of eccentricity and RecordProducer bullshit.
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* NiceGuy: Joel is this, although it's buried under layers of eccentricity and RecordProducer bullshit.
* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: God, where to start. Edna/Denise is not Music/CaroleKing. Howard is not Gerry Goffin. Joel is not Don Kirshner. The Luminaries are not The Shirelles. Kelly is not Lesley Gore, Jay's band is not Music/TheBeachBoys and Jay himself is definitely not Music/BrianWilson [[spoiler: if only because Brian Wilson is not yet dead.]]
* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: God, where to start. Edna/Denise is not Music/CaroleKing. Howard is not Gerry Goffin. Joel is not Don Kirshner. The Luminaries are not The Shirelles. Kelly is not Lesley Gore, Jay's band is not Music/TheBeachBoys and Jay himself is definitely not Music/BrianWilson [[spoiler: if only because Brian Wilson is not yet dead.]]
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* VitriolicBestBuds: Joel and Denise.
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* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: God, where to start. Edna/Denise is not Music/CaroleKing. Howard is not Gerry Goffin. Joel is not Don Kirshner. The Luminaries are not The Shirelles. Kelly is not Lesley Gore, Jay's band is not Music/TheBeachBoys and Jay himself is definitely not Music/BrianWilson [[spoiler: if only because Brian Wilson is not yet dead.]]
* TearJerker: The scene by the pool where Joel confronts Denise with her refusal to get on with her life [[spoiler: and her general grief-stricken numbness about Jay's death.]] He tells her off for betraying her talent, and she gets furious, rounding on him with a ClusterFBomb and screams at him that he's been exploiting her and that without her, he'd be nothing. Instead of defending himself, Joel just says [[ArmorPiercingResponse "Yes!"]]. Cue tears.
* TearJerker: The scene by the pool where Joel confronts Denise with her refusal to get on with her life [[spoiler: and her general grief-stricken numbness about Jay's death.]] He tells her off for betraying her talent, and she gets furious, rounding on him with a ClusterFBomb and screams at him that he's been exploiting her and that without her, he'd be nothing. Instead of defending himself, Joel just says [[ArmorPiercingResponse "Yes!"]]. Cue tears.
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* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: God, where to start. Edna/Denise is not Music/CaroleKing. Howard is not Gerry Goffin. Joel is not Don Kirshner. The Luminaries are not The Shirelles. Kelly is not Lesley Gore, Jay's band is not Music/TheBeachBoys and Jay himself is definitely not Music/BrianWilson [[spoiler: if only because Brian Wilson is not yet dead.]]
* TearJerker: The scene by the pool where Joel confronts Denise with her refusal to get on with her life [[spoiler: and her general grief-stricken numbness about Jay's death.]] He tells her off for betraying her talent, and she gets furious, rounding on him with a ClusterFBomb and screams at him that he's been exploiting her and that without her, he'd be nothing. Instead of defending himself, Joel just says [[ArmorPiercingResponse "Yes!"]]. Cue tears.]]
* TearJerker: The scene by the pool where Joel confronts Denise with her refusal to get on with her life [[spoiler: and her general grief-stricken numbness about Jay's death.]] He tells her off for betraying her talent, and she gets furious, rounding on him with a ClusterFBomb and screams at him that he's been exploiting her and that without her, he'd be nothing. Instead of defending himself, Joel just says [[ArmorPiercingResponse "Yes!"]]. Cue tears.
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* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: God, where to start. Edna/Denise is not Music/CaroleKing. Howard is not Gerry Goffin. Joel is not Don Kirshner. The Luminaries are not The Shirelles. Kelly is not Lesley Gore, Jay's band is not Music/TheBeachBoys and Jay himself is definitely not Music/BrianWilson [[spoiler: if only because Brian Wilson is not yet dead.]]
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* NiceGuy: Joel is this, although it's buried under layers of eccentricity and RecordProducer bullshit.
* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: God, where to start. Edna/Denise is not Music/CaroleKing. Howard is not Gerry Goffin. Joel is not Don Kirshner. The Luminaries are not The Shirelles. Kelly is not Lesley Gore, Jay's band is not Music/TheBeachBoys and Jay himself is definitely not Music/BrianWilson [[spoiler: if only because Brian Wilson is not yet dead.]]]]
* TearJerker: The scene by the pool where Joel confronts Denise with her refusal to get on with her life [[spoiler: and her general grief-stricken numbness about Jay's death.]] He tells her off for betraying her talent, and she gets furious, rounding on him with a ClusterFBomb and screams at him that he's been exploiting her and that without her, he'd be nothing. Instead of defending himself, Joel just says [[ArmorPiercingResponse "Yes!"]]. Cue tears.
* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: God, where to start. Edna/Denise is not Music/CaroleKing. Howard is not Gerry Goffin. Joel is not Don Kirshner. The Luminaries are not The Shirelles. Kelly is not Lesley Gore, Jay's band is not Music/TheBeachBoys and Jay himself is definitely not Music/BrianWilson [[spoiler: if only because Brian Wilson is not yet dead.
* TearJerker: The scene by the pool where Joel confronts Denise with her refusal to get on with her life [[spoiler: and her general grief-stricken numbness about Jay's death.]] He tells her off for betraying her talent, and she gets furious, rounding on him with a ClusterFBomb and screams at him that he's been exploiting her and that without her, he'd be nothing. Instead of defending himself, Joel just says [[ArmorPiercingResponse "Yes!"]]. Cue tears.
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Changed line(s) 24,25 (click to see context) from:
* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: God, where to start. Edna/Denise is not Music/CaroleKing. Howard is not Gerry Goffin. Joel is not Don Kirshner. The Luminaries are not The Shirelles. Kelly is not Lesley Gore, Jay's band is not Music/TheBeachBoys and Jay himself is definitely not Music/BrianWilson [[spoiler: if only because Brian Wilson is not yet dead.]]
* NonSingingVoice: Ileanna Douglas sings with Kristen Vigard's voice.
* NonSingingVoice: Ileanna Douglas sings with Kristen Vigard's voice.
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* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: God, where to start. Edna/Denise is not Music/CaroleKing. Howard is not Gerry Goffin. Joel is not Don Kirshner. The Luminaries are not The Shirelles. Kelly is not Lesley Gore, Jay's band is not Music/TheBeachBoys and Jay himself is definitely not Music/BrianWilson [[spoiler: if only because Brian Wilson is not yet dead.]]
* NonSingingVoice: Ileanna Douglas sings with Kristen Vigard's voice.]]
* NonSingingVoice: Ileanna Douglas sings with Kristen Vigard's voice.
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* FireForgedFriends: Denise and Cheryl, who start out disliking each other but who bond over the discovery of Kelly's relationship with her roommate, and the GettingCrapPastTheRadar challenge of writing a song for her.
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A 1996 film by Allison Anders, telling the story of Edna Buxton (Creator/IlleanaDouglas), a steel heiress from Philadelphia who becomes a respected singer-songwriter, and who is not at all a NoCelebritiesWereHarmed version of Carole King. An affectionate look at the Brill Building era, it's also a tender and surprisingly tough-minded portrayal of a talented and independent-minded female protagonist who nevertheless repeatedly sacrifices her own ambitions for the sake of other people, until she learns, well, not to.
Philadelphia, 1960 or so: gawky Edna enters a vocal talent contest in defiance of her mother, who thinks she'll make a fool of herself. Instead, Edna wins, and uses the money to record a demo of her own song. However, the demo producer (Richard Schiff) tactfully lets her know that the music industry no longer wants girl singers. He advises her to go and see producer Joel Milner (John Turturro) at the Brill Building, as there is always a need for songwriters.
Joel takes Edna under his wing and renames her 'Denise Waverley', setting her to write songs for a male doo-wop group and introducing her to leftie intellectual fellow songwriter Howard Caszatt (Eric Stoltz). The UnresolvedSexualTension between Denise and Howard quickly resolves itself, and when she becomes pregnant, they marry.
Joel sets Denise to work with English songwriter Cheryl Steed, on a song for teen ingenue Kelly Porter (Bridget Fonda). Denise and Cheryl are initially wary of each other, but they bond when they realise that Kelly is secretly in love with her roommate Marion; the resulting song 'My Secret Love' is a hit.
Denise finds that Howard is sleeping with other women, and their marriage breaks down. She embarks on an affair with kindly married DJ John Murray, but it becomes clear that he won't leave his family for her when he moves to Chicago. Joel tries to console Denise by letting her record her own song, 'God Give Me Strength', and assigns her California music wunderkind Jay Phillips (Matt Dillon) to produce it. To her surprise, Jay loves the song and does a great job, but the record bombs. The Beatles are changing the face of music, and Joel has gone bankrupt. Denise blames herself, but Joel's philosophical.
Denise and Jay fall in love and she goes out to California to be with him, but his behaviour becomes more and more erratic as he has to fight both his own band and his own self-doubt and depression, all the while ingesting heroic quantities of weed. [[spoiler: This [[HollywoodDrowning does not end well for him.]]]]
In the end, the film shows how Denise deals with the various traps life throws at her, struggling to achieve some kind of confidence, wisdom and self-sufficiency.
----
!!''GraceOfMyHeart'' uses the following tropes:
* TheCasanova: Howard, unfortunately.
* EccentricMentor: Joel is very much this for Denise. She eventually learns to appreciate it.
* HollywoodDrowning: Averted. [[spoiler: Very, very stoned, Jay simply walks into the surf and disappears beneath the waves with no fuss.]]
* KavorkaMan: John, who has Denise following him around like a puppy dog for most of the film's second act.
* LipstickLesbian: Kelly and her roommate, although it's the early Sixties and Kelly's a beloved teen idol, so they're in the closet. It takes Denise and Cheryl about 45 seconds to figure it out, though.
* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: God, where to start. Edna/Denise is not Music/CaroleKing. Howard is not Gerry Goffin. Joel is not Don Kirshner. The Luminaries are not The Shirelles. Kelly is not Lesley Gore, Jay's band is not Music/TheBeachBoys and Jay himself is definitely not Music/BrianWilson [[spoiler: if only because Brian Wilson is not yet dead.]]
* NonSingingVoice: Ileanna Douglas sings with Kristen Vigard's voice.
Philadelphia, 1960 or so: gawky Edna enters a vocal talent contest in defiance of her mother, who thinks she'll make a fool of herself. Instead, Edna wins, and uses the money to record a demo of her own song. However, the demo producer (Richard Schiff) tactfully lets her know that the music industry no longer wants girl singers. He advises her to go and see producer Joel Milner (John Turturro) at the Brill Building, as there is always a need for songwriters.
Joel takes Edna under his wing and renames her 'Denise Waverley', setting her to write songs for a male doo-wop group and introducing her to leftie intellectual fellow songwriter Howard Caszatt (Eric Stoltz). The UnresolvedSexualTension between Denise and Howard quickly resolves itself, and when she becomes pregnant, they marry.
Joel sets Denise to work with English songwriter Cheryl Steed, on a song for teen ingenue Kelly Porter (Bridget Fonda). Denise and Cheryl are initially wary of each other, but they bond when they realise that Kelly is secretly in love with her roommate Marion; the resulting song 'My Secret Love' is a hit.
Denise finds that Howard is sleeping with other women, and their marriage breaks down. She embarks on an affair with kindly married DJ John Murray, but it becomes clear that he won't leave his family for her when he moves to Chicago. Joel tries to console Denise by letting her record her own song, 'God Give Me Strength', and assigns her California music wunderkind Jay Phillips (Matt Dillon) to produce it. To her surprise, Jay loves the song and does a great job, but the record bombs. The Beatles are changing the face of music, and Joel has gone bankrupt. Denise blames herself, but Joel's philosophical.
Denise and Jay fall in love and she goes out to California to be with him, but his behaviour becomes more and more erratic as he has to fight both his own band and his own self-doubt and depression, all the while ingesting heroic quantities of weed. [[spoiler: This [[HollywoodDrowning does not end well for him.]]]]
In the end, the film shows how Denise deals with the various traps life throws at her, struggling to achieve some kind of confidence, wisdom and self-sufficiency.
----
!!''GraceOfMyHeart'' uses the following tropes:
* TheCasanova: Howard, unfortunately.
* EccentricMentor: Joel is very much this for Denise. She eventually learns to appreciate it.
* HollywoodDrowning: Averted. [[spoiler: Very, very stoned, Jay simply walks into the surf and disappears beneath the waves with no fuss.]]
* KavorkaMan: John, who has Denise following him around like a puppy dog for most of the film's second act.
* LipstickLesbian: Kelly and her roommate, although it's the early Sixties and Kelly's a beloved teen idol, so they're in the closet. It takes Denise and Cheryl about 45 seconds to figure it out, though.
* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: God, where to start. Edna/Denise is not Music/CaroleKing. Howard is not Gerry Goffin. Joel is not Don Kirshner. The Luminaries are not The Shirelles. Kelly is not Lesley Gore, Jay's band is not Music/TheBeachBoys and Jay himself is definitely not Music/BrianWilson [[spoiler: if only because Brian Wilson is not yet dead.]]
* NonSingingVoice: Ileanna Douglas sings with Kristen Vigard's voice.
