Grace Is Gone (2007)

Directed By: James C. Strouse
Starring: John Cusack, Alessandro Nivola, Gracie Bednarczyk, Shelan O’Keefe

Of the current spate of Hollywood movies dealing with the Iraq war this will probably be the most emotional, poignant and sad. The story centres on the Phillips family. Stanley (John Cusack) lives at home with his two daughters, his wife is serving in Iraq. The film opens with Stanley that his wife has been killed in action. The film then centres around Stanley attempts to put off telling his daughters what has happened, and thus taking them on a road trip to prevent him having to think too much about the news.
This is a hearting wrenching performance made all so for Cusack’s stunning everyman performance. He represents the whole of middle America. Confined to watch news reports hoping the latest casualties don’t involve their serving family. There are a number of tear jerking moments; in fact you may find yourself welling up constantly throughout. But the film is rewarding if only for so eloquently highlighting what it must be to know people who are serving and have died in Iraq.
The twist is a simple one, rather than have a husband die at war, here it’s the wife. In light on the recent events off the coast of Iran, this serves to highlight a shift in modern warfare. Women can now be soldiers just as much as men can, and so there is now a substantially larger percentage of widowers in America and Britain due to war than ever before. In Grace Is Gone though this shift is used to highlight Stanley’s feelings of inadequacy and his fear about raising these children. It’s also about the loss of masculinity for the modern man. Stanley is unable to come to terms with his wife’s death, a woman we learn so much about from his reactions and expressions. As a result he is unable to comfort his children and tell them.
What ensues then is one of the most heartfelt films you may ever see. A film which stands as Cusack’s greatest and most vulnerable character. There are glimpses of Being John Malkovich in his performance. That slightly pathetic stance, the expressions of mind that’s utterly lost, but here Cusack is so nuanced that whenever you look at his face too long you’re likely to shed a tear.
For some this will be too close to bone. Anyone who has lost as loved one or close friend in Iraq would find it almost unbearable being forced to watch their agony on the big screen, and it stands the Iraq has become the first war where the effects are visualised on screen whilst the conflict persists. This has never happened before. In Vietnam, audiences where given a respite between the conflict and Hollywood’s reaction. Not so here, and the film carries greater weight. Because it a slow paced drama which unravels step by step and in no hurry you are given time to ponder the characters, both Stanley, and his gorgeous, adorable children; both superbly performed by Gracie Bednarczyk, Shelan O’Keefe.
When Stanley visits his mother, finding his brother a scene of utter distraught emotions underplays the difficulties they both feel in expressing themselves. It this perhaps which makes the film resonates so much. Men, in general express themselves much less than women, and as such you could argue are much at handling it when it does erupt.
The film also looks fleeting at the reasons for the conflict. Stanley’s brother (Alessandro Nivola) a clear antiwar patron presents one side, whilst Stanley clings to the thought that his wife is doing the right thing, and serving her country proudly. The thought of anything else, perhaps just too much to contemplate. You sense his argument is also linked to his children and they might view their mother when older. This is another of the key moments in the film, and director James C. Strouse, handles them all with such elegance and empathy. The war itself might have been started under suspect motives, but no one can undermine the sacrifice the soldiers are making by fighting.
As the film develops the eldest of the daughters, begins to cotton on to her fathers secret, and Shelan O’Keefe does a outstanding job of giving her character the development and depth to show that she will become the natural mother of the family, looking after the younger Dawn and supporting Stanley. In fact for someone so young she shows an immense level of maturity.
When the final moments come, it’s another tear inducing moment of effortless beauty. Rarely are films so poignantly beautiful whilst simultaneously exploring a tricky subject matter.

John Cusack in a career best performance, remember your Kleenex because you will need them. May be a little too close for those affected by the Iraq conflict.