Moonsigns
|
Band Guide
|
Blogs
|
In Pictures
|
Adult
Boston
|
Portland
|
Providence
Movies
Features
|
Reviews
Cloverfield
How She Move
Reviews
Grace Is Gone
No catharsis here, just soft piano keys
By
NICK MCCARTHY
|
January 23, 2008
GRACE IS GONE
" alt="photo of 'GRACE IS GONE'">
1.5
Stars
John Cusack
Stanley Phillips (a weary John Cusack) may have difficulty admitting that Grace — his wife, who died fighting in Iraq — is gone, but first-time writer/director James C. Strouse has no trouble saying goodbye to his respect for audiences. Stanley represses his grief, makes impulsive decisions, frequently acts lost, and cannot find a way to tell the tragic truth to his daughters, Heidi (Shélan O’Keefe) and Dawn (Gracie Bednarczyk) — who might as well be named Precocious and Petulant, since they’re just sketches of characters. A few failed subplots and a stock liberal character later,
Grace
devolves into a callous game of “Will they or won’t they find out?” It’s strange that a film whose young characters are told to question the media should rely on its score to dictate how you’ll feel. There’s no catharsis here, just soft piano keys.
85 Minutes | Kendall Square
Related
:
Non-starter
Opening night at the 23rd Boston Film Festival
Company man
War, Inc. cuts its losses
Interview: John Cusack sounds off on War, Inc.
Say everything
More
Non-starter
Opening night at the 23rd Boston Film Festival
Company man
War, Inc. cuts its losses
Interview: John Cusack sounds off on War, Inc.
Say everything
Martian Child
Get out your hankies
Game, setlist, match
Radiohead at Bank of America Pavilion
Cinema of Shadows
We’re five years into the Iraq crisis, and Hollywood hasn't made a film about the war. Or is every film is about the war?
On the national affront
An inescapable year reaches its inevitable conclusion
21
A novel transformation
Brave new world
Germaine Greer’s Shakespeares
The Kingdom
Let the carnage begin!
Less
Topics
:
Reviews
,
John Cusack
,
James C. Strouse
,
Movie Stars
,
More
,
John Cusack
,
James C. Strouse
,
Movie Stars
,
Celebrity News
,
Entertainment
,
Less
Share
:
Rss
Email
Print
Comments
Add a Comment
ARTICLES BY NICK MCCARTHY
NEVER FOREVER
| May 21, 2008
Sulky and not believable
ROMAN DE GARE
| May 16, 2008
Don't be fooled into thinking this film has substance
BLINDSIGHT
| March 12, 2008
Courage and naïveté
GRACE IS GONE
| January 23, 2008
No catharsis here, just soft piano keys
MILAREPA: MAGICIAN, MURDERER, SAINT
| October 03, 2007
Plays like a Wikipedia page
See all articles by:
NICK MCCARTHY
MOST POPULAR
Most Viewed
Most Emailed
I HAD AN ABORTION
Forty percent of American women have abortions by the time they're 45. I'm one of them.
BULL DISCLOSURE
As the candidates prep for the final debate, it’s a fitting time to ask: why do some journalistic conflicts of interest become scandals, while others get almost no attention at all?
THE MELTING POT
Dip into confusing dining
HOT LOVE
Taste the flames inside Boston's secret world of fire artists
SCHLEPPING FOR OBAMA
The Boston roots of Sarah Silverman's Jewbama crusade
WORDS AS MUSIC
Alan Lupo was many things — among them, the best metro columnist Boston may ever see
SCHLEPPING FOR OBAMA
The Boston roots of Sarah Silverman's Jewbama crusade
BULL DISCLOSURE
As the candidates prep for the final debate, it’s a fitting time to ask: why do some journalistic conflicts of interest become scandals, while others get almost no attention at all?
THE MELTING POT
Dip into confusing dining
HOOVER? DAMN!
George W. Bush’s failures may have set off a tectonic shift in US presidential politics, commencing a Democratic Party reign
HOT TOPICS
Daniel Day-Lewis
,
Jack Black
,
Michael Clayton
,
Michael Haneke
,
Osama bin Laden
,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
,
Michael Jackson
,
Paris Hilton
,
Paul Thomas Anderson
,
Tommy Lee Jones
More Topics
. . .
LATEST SLIDESHOWS
Photos: Bulls on parade
Photos: Built To Spill at the Orpheum
All Slideshows
Explore your Fantasies
Featured Articles in Videogames
:
Blast from the past
Mega Man goes retro
Band apart
Rock Band 2 keeps it rolling
Sith happens
No new lease on life for Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
Troop surge
Mercenaries 2 does it the old-fashioned way
Back to business
Fall video games offer sequels and few surprises
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
|
Sign In
|
Register
thePhoenix.com:
Home
Listings
Editor's Picks
News
Music
Film + TV
Food + Drink
Life
Arts
Rec Room
Video
Phoenix Media/Communications Group:
Boston Phoenix
Portland Phoenix
Providence Phoenix
StuffAtNight
People2People
MassWeb Printing
G8Wave
About Us
Contact Us
Advertise With Us
Work For Us
Sitemap
RSS
Mobile
TODAY'S FEATURED ADVERTISERS
Copyright © 2008 The Phoenix Media/Communications Group