Grace is Gone

Starring: John Cusack Directed by: James C. Strouse Runtime: 85 min. Rated: PG-13 Release date: December 7, 2007 - More Info
READER RATINGS:
3 OVERALL	Smart . . . . . . . . 3 Sexy . . . . . . . . . 2.5 Funny . . . . . . . . 3.5

The Nerve Review

In a recent interview, John Cusack said he'd only done ten good movies. That means some thirty Cusack movies don't cut it. With the release of Grace is Gone, he may want to knock that good list up to ten-and-a-half. Cusack plays Stanley Phillips, the burdened and depressed husband of army sergeant Grace. Grace is fighting in Iraq — Stanley's own dream, shattered by his poor eyesight. When he learns that his wife died in the line of fire, this ill-at-ease, detached dad must find a way to deliver the news to his kids. He decides to take his two daughters to an amusement park, in order to delay the onslaught. On this spontaneous road trip — and spontaneity is not this man's strong suit — he bonds with both girls, even sharing surprisingly grown-up conversations with his eldest.

Tears are inevitable in this melodrama, for both the characters and the audience. Grace is too calculated to surprise; there will, or should be, tears when Stanley first hears about Grace's death and when he finally decides to tell his kids about it. Throw in a few extra pull-at-your-heartstring moments, laid over Clint Eastwood's score, and it'll leave the ladies tearing. Where Grace excels is in the performances. Oscar buzz already surrounds Cusack's portrayal of the stiff-legged, uptight father attempting to channel his fun-loving younger self while silently grieving. As for his daughters, well, move over Fanning sisters. You've got competition. In any case, Cusack deserves to add this movie to his "good" list — at least a half-point purely based on his performance. But I'm still secretly hoping he returns for a still-unwritten Say Anything 2. — Liz Nadybal

Other Reviews

Variety
Todd McCarthy
"As Hollywood films have generally done when treating social issues, "Grace Is Gone" appeals much more effectively to the heart than to the head."
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The Village Voice
Scott Foundas
"Rather than challenging our national aversion to unhappy endings, both in life and in cinema, Strouse plays right into it: He's devised Grace Is Gone to work on our sentiments the way a porn movie works on our libidos, only he delays the money shot with 80-odd minutes of emotional foreplay en route to the inevitable, orgiastic climax."
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Salon
Andrew O'Hehir
"I understand that "Grace Is Gone" is a movie about grief, but I wish it didn't fall so thoroughly into the pathetic fallacy."
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The Hollywood Reporter
Kirk Honeycutt
"The grief in "Grace" is so heavily manufactured that everything rings hollow. In John Cusack, Strouse has one of the screen's more versatile leading men. Yet Cusack seems strangely remote in a surprisingly one-note performance that requires the audience to supply the emotions."
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