Grace is Gone (C or 2/4 stars)
John Cusack shows his softer side in 'Grace is Gone', a drama written & directed by James C. Strouse. After hearing that his wife was killed in the Iraq War, Stanley Phillips (Cusack) buries 'his' grief by taking his 2 daughters, Heidi & Dawn (Shelan O'Keefe, Gracie Bednarczyk) on a road trip to Enchanted World (a theme park). For the time being, he doesn't have the courage to tell them. The only reason Cusack is getting the accolades for 'Grace is Gone' that he is because he's never had a role like this before. For what is it, I didn't find his performance to be that profound; nor is the movie.
Stanley is a manager at a home retailing store. He doesn't like it much. He'd prefer to be in the army (with or instead of his wife, Grace), but his poor vision prevents his participation. While she defends the U.S. flag, he's stocking shelves. All this means that on the home front, he's acting as dad AND mom. And he neither likes it, nor is good at it. Everything falls apart for him the morning that 2 uniformed men give him the bad news that Grace was killed in action. Not being able to absorb it, and scared to tell the girls, he packs them into his car & sets-off from Minnesota to sunny Florida. Really, all he is doing is putting off the inevitable. And it won't do him or his children any favors in the long run ... or maybe it will.
Though the film is made because Grace died, and though a large part of it deals with Stanley's telling his children of their mom's fate, it's more about Stanley's state of mind through it all. At times he cries (to his liberal brother, played well by Alessandro Nivola). At others, he keeps it all in (only venting to his own answering machine, just to hear the ghost of his dead wife's voice). Ultimately, Stanley is upset, scared, & guilty about Grace's death; and he feels that he isn't a good father (early scenes show this, I didn't care for Stanley on the onset, at all).
The climax is melancholic as we bear witness to this 'Enchanted' theme park; it's little more than an exaggerated carnival. Its' very unimpressive-ness really underlines how sad the entire journey had been. Even before they're told their mom's fate, the theme park didn't do much to ignite any joy anyway; kind of a cruel plot point if you ask me. Not everything disappointed me in 'Grace is Gone'. The 2 child stars display great naturalism in their roles. Though the plot is minimal, the movie (and its' characters) grow on you, as they should. There are only a few 'sappy' moments to swallow.
When I mentioned earlier that Cusack doesn't bowl me over, that's not to say he did a poor job. Stanley is a rigid, emotionally-wounded person. Cusack conveys repression well. But he's better & more believable when playing nervy, witty characters. 'Grace is Gone' is a methodical, weighty, deliberate movie that moves at a slower pace than most films. And it's obviously a bit of a downer. It's important to know this before watching it (my disappointing critique notwithstanding).
Stanley is a manager at a home retailing store. He doesn't like it much. He'd prefer to be in the army (with or instead of his wife, Grace), but his poor vision prevents his participation. While she defends the U.S. flag, he's stocking shelves. All this means that on the home front, he's acting as dad AND mom. And he neither likes it, nor is good at it. Everything falls apart for him the morning that 2 uniformed men give him the bad news that Grace was killed in action. Not being able to absorb it, and scared to tell the girls, he packs them into his car & sets-off from Minnesota to sunny Florida. Really, all he is doing is putting off the inevitable. And it won't do him or his children any favors in the long run ... or maybe it will.
Though the film is made because Grace died, and though a large part of it deals with Stanley's telling his children of their mom's fate, it's more about Stanley's state of mind through it all. At times he cries (to his liberal brother, played well by Alessandro Nivola). At others, he keeps it all in (only venting to his own answering machine, just to hear the ghost of his dead wife's voice). Ultimately, Stanley is upset, scared, & guilty about Grace's death; and he feels that he isn't a good father (early scenes show this, I didn't care for Stanley on the onset, at all).
The climax is melancholic as we bear witness to this 'Enchanted' theme park; it's little more than an exaggerated carnival. Its' very unimpressive-ness really underlines how sad the entire journey had been. Even before they're told their mom's fate, the theme park didn't do much to ignite any joy anyway; kind of a cruel plot point if you ask me. Not everything disappointed me in 'Grace is Gone'. The 2 child stars display great naturalism in their roles. Though the plot is minimal, the movie (and its' characters) grow on you, as they should. There are only a few 'sappy' moments to swallow.
When I mentioned earlier that Cusack doesn't bowl me over, that's not to say he did a poor job. Stanley is a rigid, emotionally-wounded person. Cusack conveys repression well. But he's better & more believable when playing nervy, witty characters. 'Grace is Gone' is a methodical, weighty, deliberate movie that moves at a slower pace than most films. And it's obviously a bit of a downer. It's important to know this before watching it (my disappointing critique notwithstanding).