Metacritic Film

Grace Is Gone

Starring John Cusack, Alessandro Nivola, Shelan O'Keefe, and Gracie Bednarczyk

MPAA RATING: PG-13 for thematic material, brief strong language and teen smoking

The Weinstein Company
Drama
85 minutes | Color
USA
Released In Theaters December 7, 2007

There was a time when Stanley Phillips could see his entire life clearly. He dreamed of patriotic service and was destined for a military career. He came close to that dream until it was cut short simply because of his poor eyesight. Now he's serving customers at a home supply store while his sergeant wife is fighting in Iraq. Equally as awkward at home as he is at work, he's raising Heidi, their 12-year-old daughter, and Dawn, her 8-year-old sister. Although a loving father, Stanley is unable to conform to a more affectionate role, and the girls miss their mother deeply. While tolerating his job and stumbling through parenting he is abruptly awakened when tragedy strikes. Ill prepared to deal with it himself, he is at a complete loss contemplating how to tell his children. He's desperate to delay telling the children, so they embark on a spontaneous road trip. Grasping to give them their last moments of innocence, Stanley reveals a softer side as they travel to Dawn's chosen destination: Enchanted Gardens Theme Park. The farther they drive, the closer they become, yet Stanley knows he must face the inevitable task of changing their lives forever. (The Weinstein Company)

WRITTEN BY
James C. Strouse

DIRECTED BY
James C. Strouse

Overall Metascore

This is a weighted, normalized average of all individual scores given by critics, on a scale of 0 (worst) to 100 (best).

65 / 100

Critic Reviews

83 The Onion (A.V. Club)
Attempts to address grief frankly, gently, and without didacticism, and it largely succeeds.
80 The New York Times
Mr. Cusack demonstrates once again that he is Hollywood’s second-most-reliable nice guy, after Tom Hanks. Devoid of vanity, with no hidden agendas, he never strains to be likable. Good will, integrity and a native common sense ooze out of him.
75 Premiere
A picture about tragedy in one American family's life, and it's a convincing and humane one.
75 USA Today
As subtle and shattering as its title.
75 Rolling Stone
Simplicity -- four-square, not sappy -- is rare in film. James C. Strouse had it in his script for Lonesome Jim. As writer and first-time director, he gives Grace Is Gonethe quiet power to sneak up and floor you.
75 ReelViews
With a minimalist plot, Grace Is Gone turns its primary focus on John Cusack, giving the actor an opportunity to display both his talent and his range.
75 Chicago Tribune
It’s a close call, but Grace is Gone is worth seeing for the way John Cusack works with Shelan O’Keefe and Gracie Bednarczyk, two of the least affected and most affecting young actors to hit the screen this year.
75 Chicago Sun-Times
Not a great movie, simply functional, but Cusack gives a great performance. The film somehow doesn't live up to his work.
70 Los Angeles Times
An emotionally rich and satisfying drama featuring a terrifically understated performance from John Cusack.
70 Film Threat Jeremy Mathews
A film that depends entirely on whether you feel empathy for its characters.
70 Variety
Although clearly coming from an antiwar perspective, the story's emotional effectiveness and family grounding give the film a real shot at connecting with general audiences across the political spectrum.
67 Seattle Post-Intelligencer
The most noteworthy thing about the Iraq war home-front drama, Grace Is Gone, is that Clint Eastwood composed its musical score and title song, which have both been garnering all sorts of accolades, including dual Golden Globe nominations.
63 New York Daily News
Bednarczyk's natural instincts put most programmed Hollywood moppets to shame, and the quietly affecting O'Keefe shows genuine talent.
50 The Hollywood Reporter
A disappointing and manipulative look at one family's loss in the Iraq war.
50 Chicago Reader
His (John Cusack) quickness and intelligence make him a poor choice to play the flat-footed main character, a rigidly conservative family man who can't work up the nerve to tell his two daughters their soldier mother has been killed in action.
50 Village Voice Scott Foundas
The music--a gently jazzy piano-and-strings theme--is just fine, and a good deal less cloying than what was there before. One can only regret that Eastwood didn't offer to reshoot the whole movie while he was at it.
50 Entertainment Weekly
Grace Is Gone grabs on to a name, a war, and the metaphor-come-to-life of a theme park with rides going nowhere. And we, the people, are spun around and shaken for tears.
50 New York Post
A barbell of a movie that carries some weight at either end. What's in between is purely utilitarian, though.

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