Grace is Gone

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James C. Strouse's Grace is Gone, which I saw last night at 10 pm, is the best film I've seen so far at Sundance '07. It's a plain and pared down thing, emotionally subtle but very specific and often moving, familiar and understated with a Midwestern voice of its own -- a family film about a very American, very here-and-now tragedy.

It definitely stands a chance of being remembered at year's end, certainly for John Cusack's deeply touching performance (a major step forward given his career-long inhabiting of hip sardonic wise guys) and possibly in the Best Picture, Direction and Screenplay categories at the '08 Spirit Awards, and perhaps beyond that. 2007 has barely begun, but Grace has the kind of quiet poignance and gravitas that lingers.

I heard last night that the Paramount Vantage team was circling, but the Hollywood Reporter guys have just broken the news that the Weinstein Co. has picked it up.

Grace is Gone is a rare Sundance film in that it bridges a red state-blue state sensibility. It is basically antiwar (and clearly anti-Bush), but at the same time non-judgmental in its portrait of a patriotic dad (Cusack) who's barely coping with the news of his wife having just been killed, and particularly how to break the news to his two daughters (one of whom is played by Shelan O'Keefe).

Grace is humanistic and character-driven, but, as Sundance programmer John Cooper has written, the fact that it "can be construed as pro-military guarantees its greatest impact." It's a curious case -- a movie made by anti-war blues that exudes heartfelt respect and compassion for the patriotic reds. I'm putting it a bit bluntly, but that's the basic deal.

Grace is Gone director-writer James C. Strouse

There's a shiftless-brother-of-Cusack character (Alessandro Nivola) who espouses antiwar views, but the film is apolitical in its focus on family grief and confusion. It's obviously frowning at Cusack's blind loyalty to the Bush cabal's handling of the war but it doesn't get into argumentative particulars or windy rhetoric. I can imagine this film playing in rural Republican/Bubba territory sometime later this year, and mainstream conservative guys and their wives and children coming out of the theatre and going, "Yeah...good film...solemn, truthful."

Cusack's Stanley Phillips goes into a kind of stunned tailspin when he hears news that his soldier wife, Grace, has been killed in Iraq. The extent of his meltdown is evident when he decides to hide the news from his daughters, deciding instead to take them on a road trip from their home in Minnesota to a Disney World-type amusement park in Florida.

He obviously needs to spill it sooner or later, but he puts it off and puts it off. His older daughter, 12, senses right away that something's up but she doesn't force or confront. Eventually her younger sister also starts to detect a certain vibe in the air. The movie is about the drip-drip-drip of truth seeping in, scene by scene, line by line. It takes its time getting there, but it never bores or drags.

Cusack, who produced along with four or five others, is an adamant anti-Iraq War leftie, and good for that. He feels, obviously, for those military people who've been killed so far, and believes that their tragedies shouldn't be hidden. Cusack has been quoted as saying that the Bush administration's policy of banning media coverage of America's war dead as their remains are returned is "one of the most shameful, disgraceful, cowardly political acts that I've seen in my lifetime."

The elegance of Grace is Gone, by contrast, is that it doesn't "say" anything, but there's no mistaking what it's saying.

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Posted by Jeffrey Wells on January 21, 2007 at 8:30 AM

comment #1

christian says ...

sounds fascinating. i'm there. i'd like to see cusack step outside his snarky roles.

Posted by christian at January 21, 2007 10:42 AM

comment #2

JD says ...

People who are curious about this should check out the Steve Buscemi-directed, Strouse-scripted Lonesome Jim. It's flawed, but worthwhile and, from the sounds of it, not terribly dissimilar from Grace is Gone.

Posted by JD at January 21, 2007 12:31 PM

comment #3

Craig Kennedy says ...

I love Cusack in Snark Mode, but I'd love to see him broaden his range. This film sounds great.

Posted by Craig Kennedy at January 21, 2007 2:27 PM

comment #4

austin111 says ...

Yeah, good! I hope it's as good as you say. I think Cusack, like his sister, Joan, is one of the great unsung actors in Hollywood -- almost up there with Jeff Bridges in a way. It'd be nice to see him in something different for a change.

Posted by austin111 at January 21, 2007 3:00 PM

comment #5

EDouglas says ...

NOt sure if you saw the news, but The Weinstein Company has scooped it up. At least I don't feel so bad about missing this because I iked Resurrecting the Champ, but man, I must be a jinx if all the movies I missed are being bought.

Posted by EDouglas at January 21, 2007 3:09 PM

comment #6

Craig Kennedy says ...

He pointed out the Weinstein grab in the 3rd paragraph.

Posted by Craig Kennedy at January 21, 2007 3:11 PM

comment #7

NYCBusybody says ...

I think the odds of "Bubba" territory people going to any movie with John Cusack in it seems extremely far-fetched, and that has nothing to do with political anything whatsoever.

He's never had a Red State kinda vibe in anything. Kinda whiny, kinda wussy, overly-intellectual, that's always been his shtick. He may play a good, down-home Midwestern dad in this one, but it won't get any attention.

Posted by NYCBusybody at January 21, 2007 3:46 PM

comment #8

sunny says ...

I love Cusack. Whatever role he plays is imbued with an underlying integrity, kind of like Jimmy Stewart,only sexy and intellectual. I'd watch him watch paint dry.

Posted by sunny at January 21, 2007 4:12 PM

comment #9

Ju-osh says ...

Well said, Sunny. A perfect encapsulation of Cusack's film persona.

Posted by Ju-osh at January 21, 2007 7:20 PM

comment #10

Nate West says ...

//He's never had a Red State kinda vibe in anything.//

Kickboxing exudes no "Red State kinda vibe"? Please...

Posted by Nate West at January 21, 2007 11:43 PM

comment #11

NYCBusybody says ...

Having not seen the film in question, I cannot comment, but my supremely education supposition would be that Cusack did, indeed, kickbox in as fey, analytical, and politically correct a way as possible.

Posted by NYCBusybody at January 22, 2007 7:11 AM

comment #12

frankbooth says ...

Oh certainly, the do-gooders can make a heart-felt motion-picture film about the human toll of dear leader's war. But no-one will watch it, Smithers! No-one, I say!

Now let us commence to my money-bath!

Posted by frankbooth at January 23, 2007 12:07 AM

comment #13

godblessu says ...

Im a military wife of 20 years
Soldiers Volunteer their lives daily
and get very little pay or appreciation
Its not easy watching them sign their Will everytime they deploy knowing this might be the last goodbye
You learn to love them for who they are and the freedoms they believe in their is no changing their minds "they will die for it" as "Volunteers"
And most of all the Honor they hold deep in their hearts for the love of their country
and the The Freedoms they fight for they are a rare breed just as police and firefighters they all are our true heroes
that go so under appreciated you could just feel a knife cutting you every time you hear this is a Wrong War
I feel better that the evil (yes I said evil) tyrant is gone
He was murderous killer
his children were raised on his insanties of killings and rapes
Men died to get him out of power because he was genecizing his people
Noone has ever died in vain for freedoms
The bodybags is what has focused a man to do this film if that is how he feels then god bless him for his convictions
I will see this movie
but im definitely a "red" participant
Military people need to be recognized for their courage and love for freedoms and country
Id like to see this movie Unite people
And give the sense of urgency of just what military families face and how the critics words hurt us because noone has died in vain
John has always reminded me of Gregory Peck
he has wit charm and is a deep thinker
and doesnt care to be in the "social limelight"
I hope and know he will do the grieving part justice but what I want to see is the " Honor"
these men have died for and still dying for
"Our Freedoms"
and its high time they got appreciated instead of beaten down by the "blue" polictical agendas
Thank you for the ability to speak

Posted by godblessu at January 23, 2007 10:46 AM

comment #14

snoop says ...

If this film hits in a big way, Cusack may get a nomination, especially considering it's so far removed from what he usually does.

However, lets keep in mind that the man just doesn't get love from the Academy. He's certainly given nomination-worthy performances before in films like High Fidelity and Being John Malkovich and yet they've stayed away. It's not a glaring dis to the man. After all, it took Johnny Depp getting dress up as a pirate to finally get nominated... but still.

Posted by snoop at January 24, 2007 1:19 PM

comment #15

TreyOhFive says ...

I was lucky enough to see the movie's final screening on Sunday night. Unfortunately, the director didn't show up...but it just seemed right to quitely leave the theatre with the rest of the teary-eyed crowd. I have been hearing much criticism about its anti-war/bush views. This way of looking at the movie will only take away from what a good film it actually is. Yes, it contains many elements that are typical of Sundance films...relationships, subtelty, roadtrips. But watch for the standout preformances from Cusack (who rarely dissapoints) and the older daughter played by Shelan O'Keefe to be recognized later in the year. I see Weinstein to have made a good deal at a great price and it will hold wider appeal and less controversy than people currently believe. At its core, its a moving modern tale about a struggling man coming to grips with tragedy.

Posted by TreyOhFive at January 31, 2007 12:07 AM

comment #16