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List Price: $19.95 | | Label: Weinstein Company
Salesrank: 30117
Released: May 27, 2008 |
| Our Price: $3.35 |
| Used Price: $0.99 |
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MPAA Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
In one of his most acclaimed performances, John Cusack makes an astonishing transformation as Stanley Philips, a sad, disconnected man unable to tell his young daughters their mother, a soldier, has died in Iraq. Instead, he takes the girls on a road trip, where their innocent charm helps him rediscover a healing joy he thought he'd lost forever.
Description of Grace Is Gone:
Unlike previous Iraq War films, the poignant directorial debut from writer James C. Strouse (Lonesome Jim) uses the conflict as starting point rather than subject. Early in the proceedings, Stanley (John Cusack) finds out his wife has been killed in the line of duty. The bespectacled disciplinarian decides not to tell his daughters right away. In his younger days, Stanley tried to serve his country, but poor eyesight dashed that dream, and now he's a superstore manager. The sort of middle-American conservative rarely seen at the art house, Stanley believes in his president. That doesn't alleviate his pain. Putting on a brave face, he asks his oblivious girls for their greatest wish. Eight-year-old Dawn (Gracie Bednarczyk) exclaims, "Enchanted Gardens!" With that, they hop in their SUV and drive from Minnesota to the Florida theme park. Twelve-year-old Heidi (Shélan O'Keefe) knows something is wrong--her dad isn't the spontaneous type--but she doesn't know what it is. En route, they visit Stanley's brother, John (Alessandro Nivola), who offers some insight into their bottled-up father. By the end of the trip, Stanley figures out how to break the news, in the process becoming a real parent. After winning the Audience Award at Sundance, Clint Eastwood, Cusack's Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil director, gave the soundtrack a jazz-oriented overhaul. In tone, it's almost too refined for the blue-collar world Strouse depicts, but never distracting. More importantly, Grace Is Gone features Cusack’s finest performance to date. --Kathleen C. Fennessy
Grace Is Gone Reviews:
Well Acted and Touching Film! 
2009-12-28 - Grace is Gone is a very real and emotionally touching film of love and loss.
After losing his wife, Grace, a father grieves the loss and ponders how to tell his two children.
Instead, they take a road trip...and he cuts loose a little.
In the process, the three of them grow closer to each other and realize the sacrifice that Grace made for her country.
This is a well-acted film from all involved.
Highly recommended movie!
An amazing emotional film
2009-11-20 - Grace is Gone does for the tear jerker genre what Paranormal Activity did for scary movies. It's a film that actually comes through on its premise. John Cusack is far outside of his normal character and an emotional freight train. The two girls that play his daughters are each in their own rights charming, believable and devastating. I love this movie even though it is one of the hardest things I've ever watched. I couldn't wait to purchase this masterpiece so my wife could watch it as I knew it would devastate her as it had me. Nothing like torturing the wife!!!
A one-note expression of grief that never seems to register... 
2009-10-27 - I've been anticipating this movie since, well, early 2007 when John Cusack was rumored to be heading for an Oscar nomination. I have never really been a huge Cusack fan (at least not John, for I have always adored his sister Joan) but there was something about the plot and concept of this film that just really spoke to me. I love these somber character studies, and grief is one of the most emotionally connective ways to study someone's character.
Conceptually, `Grace is Gone' has promise, but the way in which the film is constructed turns that promise in an empty gesture.
The film revolves around Stanley Phillips, a former soldier who, because of poor eyesight, has been reduced to department store manager. While his wife is overseas, fighting the war he wishes he could fight, Stanley raises their two daughters, Heidi and Dawn. When word comes that Grace, his wife, has died, Stanley struggles with his own feelings as well as when and how to tell his daughters. Instead of just `telling' them, Stanley decides to take them on a trip, driving from Minnesota to Florida to visit a theme park.
For me, and I know I'm in the minority here, the film feels very bland. It comes across like a `made for television' movie, very middle of the road and amateurish. The performances are all decent, but nothing truly admirable (except Alessandro Nivola, who has a small but important part, and he plays it flawlessly). John Cusack's approach to grief is very one-note. He just looks grumpy throughout the entire film. In fact, the films conclusion is the only part to remotely works for me, for it shows a father actually being a father. Yes, I understand that grief is a very tumultuous thing, and it affects people differently; I just wish that Cusack had found the layers within his character. It is preposterous to conclude that his daughters wouldn't figure out what was going on; I mean, their father doesn't even shower. It was an overstated depiction of grief to me. I have seen people shut down when a loved one dies, but when you have children you can't really `shut down' to the extent that Stanley does.
It feels like a performance, not something genuine. Watch Tom Wilkinson in `In the Bedroom' for an accurate and stunning portrayal of grief.
The other aspect of the film that I found rather distracting was the way it couldn't clearly decide what film it wanted to be. It fluctuated between a film about grief to a film about war, and I think that the political stand it was trying to make actually took away from the film. It is a part of Stanley that needed to be expressed in order to flesh out his character, and so I respect that decision, but they needed more time to make it feel more than just a random expression. The film is barely over an hour in length and so it almost feels simplistic, never really `going there' as it needed to in order to make either of the films two primary topics connect with the viewer.
I've read some complaints (not here necessarily) about the way in which the climax is delivered to the audience. Personally, the films conclusion is the best part of the film. The way the dialog is stripped during the theme park scene (and another pertinent scene) and the facial expressions (happy or sad) are allowed to do all the talking for us was truly inspired and beautifully tailored to elicit our deepest emotional sympathies. Yes, I broke down in tears at the final scene (which did feel more manipulated than anything else) but one small speckle of brilliance (I don't consider the manipulated emotions brilliance, but the two scenes leading up to it are) doesn't make the film worth watching. There are far better films that tackle this subject (`In the Bedroom' for one) and so I'd recommend you watch one of those.
A Story About the Side of War That's Rarely Discussed
2009-09-19 - This heart-wrenching movie is beautiful and brilliant on so many levels. I went into this movie expecting an anti-war story, knowing about Cusack's politics and agreeing with what I know of them. What really struck me though is that the movie was very subtle with its opinions, and it showed sides of the war that's rarely talked about or discussed.
In the months leading up to the Iraq war, I remember the media hyping it up (pushed by the Bush administration), and "pro-war" protesters being out on the streets. I was amazed that people were actually PUSHING for this country to go to war - which would lead to inevitable suffering and loss for both the people of our country and the people of Iraq. This movie is one story about such a loss, from the perspective of an American family.
It specifically focuses on a man with two daughters who is informed that his wife was killed in battle in Iraq (something a bit unique in itself, since most people stereotypically think of military widows rather than widowers). Cusack's character is on the conservative side; having voted for Bush, being very pro-military (having been in the military himself previously but was forced to leave for medical reasons) - and he was a strong believer in the Iraq war and was proud to see his wife go to fight for her country. He never expected the shock of having uniformed soldiers show up and tell him that his wife has died. The rest of the movie has him struggling to figure out how to tell his daughters the worst news of their lives, knowing that the moment he tells them, their lives will be forever changed. He takes them on a spontaneous trip to "Enchanted Gardens" (a theme park that is supposed to represent Disney World). He's trying to enjoy a few more moments of joy with them until he's forced to give them the horrible news that will bring their world crashing down, and he himself will be forced to deal with the reality of the situation.
The movie has various scenes which bring tears to one's eyes, e.g. him calling home to listen to his wife's voice on the answering machine, and leaving a message begging her to help him explain to his kids what has happened. The acting was fantastic - Cusack's character, his anti-war / anti-Bush brother, and the two daughters were portrayed excellently by the respective actors and actresses.
The movie was released awhile back now, but retrospectively now that more truths have come out about the U.S. going to war under false pretenses etc etc, the movie really drives home the point that it's people such as these families who really got screwed over. They supported the Bush administration and firmly believed in the all the lies - not because they were bad people, but because they were naive. In one scene the older daughter asks her father about the controversy - that some people were saying that the war was unjustified, etc. And the father's response was "you just have to believe that we're doing the right thing". She asks in response "what if you can't believe?" The father responds "Then....all is lost." This is the dilemma of the truly moral conservatives that supported the war-dodging president (and VP) that sent thousands of Americans to die for his neo-con agenda. The truth is too unbearable to face, especially for those who have lost loved ones. Despite the circumstances and politics that led to the war though, these topics are overshadowed by the topic of heroism of soldiers and their families, and the unfathomable loss they endure when tragedy strikes. When he finally tells his girls that their mother has died, I wanted to cry with them.
Rent it. Buy it.
2009-07-20 - Another beautiful film starring John Cusack. This film examines duty, honor and loss. The story is full of feeling, subtle surprises and a powerful moral message. I saw it because I want to see everything by John Cusack. You should see it because it's a good movie.
