Grace Is Gone (2007)

A fundamentally small and intimate film, Grace Is Gone may be remembered more for failing to achieve the larger expectations that burdened it than for successfully doing what it sets out to do. James C. Strouse's film won the audience award at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival. But when it couldn't generate the ticket sales to justify its purchase price, it served as a major cautionary tale for Sundance buyers the following year -- who demonstrated newfound disbelief that this insider's festival could predict wider viewing trends. Grace Is Gone also suffered from its status as another drama dealing with the consequences of the Iraq War, in a season when audiences were bypassing such movies by the bushel. But those who saw it witnessed a deeply internal lead performance from John Cusack, and heartbreaking turns by the two young actresses playing his daughters (Shélan O'Keefe and Gracie Bednarczyk). The mere idea of their mother's mortality scares them to death, and since the audience knows they'll soon have to cope with the actual fact of it, each scene is pregnant with eventual mourning. Cusack sheds all vanity to assume the role of a bespectacled working Joe with a limp, a man whose unwavering patriotism makes his private grieving all the more complicated. His impromptu road trip to an amusement park, more than a day's drive from home, may have made the film tougher to swallow -- it's hard not to feel stressed, wondering how it will all turn out, and whether the girls would really remain in the dark in the face of such erratic parental behavior. But viewers who accept Strouse's choices will probably also agree that when the truth will change everything, fighting to keep innocence alive -- for just a little while longer -- is about the most parental instinct there is. ~ Derek Armstrong, All Movie Guide