Grace of My Heart is a 1996 American musical comedy-drama film written and directed by Allison Anders, and starring Illeana Douglas, Matt Dillon, Eric Stoltz, Patsy Kensit and John Turturro.

However, when Edna tells him that she wrote the song she wants to record, he is impressed enough to direct her to producer Joel Milner, who takes her under his wing, renames her "Denise Waverly" and invents a blue-collar persona for her.

Joel recruits the beautiful English songwriter Cheryl Steed, who immediately catches Howard's eye, and initially, Denise's disdain.

As an added incentive, he offers the production assistance of Jay Phillips, the frontman of California rock group the Riptides, to produce her single.

Although initially hesitant as she says she finds the whole "surf and turf" sound laughable, she writes and sings the song "God Give Me Strength" and is delighted by Jay's skillful orchestral arrangement.

He falls into a period of deep depression that seemingly abates after a visit from his friend "Jonesy", who reminds him of the things that are important in his life, including his "groovy new old lady", Denise.

Thinking that the worst is over, Denise invites Jay to join her and Cheryl at the Whisky a Go Go to see Doris, a former Luminary member who embarked on a solo career after the girl group broke up, perform.

Numbed by the loss, Denise retires with her family to a hippie commune in northern California and tries to make sense of everything that has happened.

As she lays down the piano track for the song, her life is recounted in pictures, leading to the moment when her own mother receives a copy of her album in the mail with a handwritten note.

The story is loosely based on the career arc of singer-songwriter Carole King, who, like Denise, started out writing songs in the Brill Building for artists like Aretha Franklin, The Drifters, and Little Eva.

[4] It was theatrically released a few days later on September 13, 1996, just weeks ahead of Oscar-winning actor Tom Hanks' directorial debut That Thing You Do!, which also covered the early to mid-1960s pop music scene and featured original, retro-styled songs on the soundtrack.

[7] David Ansen of Newsweek praised the film and wrote while it "is not the smoothest trip" story-wise, "Anders's rough edges are more than offset by the story's contagious vitality...Denise's funky journey to self-discovery is a fresh feminist take on an era that has always been seen through men's eyes.

"[8] Time Out wrote, "There's a lovely sequence about a third of the way into Anders' delightful movie which follows a song from conception - the street scene that inspires it - through the writing, to the recording session.

[10][8][11][12] Mark Caro of the Chicago Tribune wrote:What Anders captures is the feel of the time: the nervous thrill of singing a song you love; the sanctified atmosphere of a recording studio, with red padded walls that match the singer's lipstick and a slit of a window that reveals a live bassist; the songwriter's excitement in realizing that songs can be about people's actual lives and still be commercial; the breathlessness of keeping up with an industry that may love a cappella vocal groups one day and rock bands the next.

Another of Denise's big musical moments occurs in the studio to sing tracks for "God Give Me Strength", an expensively produced single that fails to generate excitement on the charts, alluding to Phil Spector's recording of "River Deep – Mountain High" for Tina Turner (written by Spector, Ellie Greenwich and Jeff Barry).

[13] Singer Elvis Costello, who co-wrote "God Give Me Strength" with Burt Bacharach for the film, also wrote "Unwanted Number", which is crafted by Denise and Cazsatt for the Luminaries and causes a scandal due to its story of a young, unmarried mother.

[19] Singer-composer Lesley Gore co-wrote the song "My Secret Love", performed by the character of young singer Kelly Porter.

[20][21] Gore chose not to be credited as a co-writer because she felt she'd "been brought in too late for a real collaboration" and was not invited to the film's New York City premiere,[20] a logistical oversight Anders regretted.