Hmmm… what can I say about this film

SLC

Grace is Gone is a film I can’t quite put into words. Not that it’s all that far out there, but more that it goes to some interesting emotional places and doesn’t really contain a lot of substance beyond the huge personal journeys traveled by the characters. Stanley Philips, played by John Cusack, is a patriot and father of two. When he learns that his wife, Grace, has been killed in the Iraq war, he attempts to rally his strength to tell his young daughters that their mother won’t be coming home. Faced with this incredible task, he instead throws everyone in the car for a road trip across the country from Minnesota to Florida for a visit to their favorite amusement park. Over the course of the trip, Stanley attempts to figure out who his daughters are and, ultimately, how to break the horrible news. The result is a film about an incredible emotional journey that may take awhile to gain momentum, but ultimately discovers an incredible bond between a parent and his children. God... this is sounding ridiculously sappy already. Please just trust me that it’s not sappy or cliché… but genuinely heartfelt and natural. Best parallel I can draw is that the emotional journey in Grace is Gone is much like the one in Little Miss Sunshine.

The Weinsteins picked this film up earlier in the week, so it’ll get theatrical distribution sometime in the next few months. It’s what I consider to be a good film, though not amazing in any respect.


So... the rundown on films for the day:
Trade – Excellent but very emotionally heavy film. Definitely worth seeing provided you’re okay with some graphic nightmares for a day or two.
Bajo Juarez – On the fence. Intriguing and risky subject, poor execution.
Grace is Gone – Good, but nothing amazing.