SnoopyStyle Stanley Phillips (John Cusack) is a mild-mannered store manager. His wife Grace is away at war in Iraq. They met in basic training and married before he got thrown out for his eyes. He's informed of her death but he can't bring himself to tell their daughters Heidi and Dawn. He decides to take them out of school on a surprise trip to amusement park Enchanted Gardens. They visit his anti-war slacker brother John Phillips (Alessandro Nivola). The older daughter Heidi starts to suspect something is wrong.Cusack is playing against type as a father. He is literally hunched over after the news. It's an interesting performance and the two girls are great. The older girl is especially good. This road trip movie is a bit too simplistic. There isn't enough going on. It needs a few more outside characters for the three leads to interact with like that smoking boy. It is nevertheless very compelling and the inevitable talk is powerful.

taylomd I don't know what the director had in mind but Cusak did a terrible job as a grieving husband and father. His behavior is unlikely and just abnormal. His mouth was perpetually open during the entire movie. Not good. The movie is slow and extremely boring. Lots of long stares in to outer space by each player. All the characters seem tired and bored with their lot in life. People just don't behave like this. When the brother confronts Cusak about his wife he gets quite violent and out of control. I don't think that any sane brother would confront a newly widowed brother in that manner even if they don't get along normally. The basis of the story is OK but there was no need for this neurotic behavior and pretend that real people behave like that.

Gordon-11 This film is about a father who has got no courage to tell his two daughters that their mother died on the battlefields of Iraq.Despite the slow pacing, I find "Grace Is Gone" rather captivating. The character development and portrayal are excellent. The father and the two daughters have different personalities. The father does unconventional and even irresponsible things to hide his grief. The elder daughter is mature and bright, and likes to do things right. The younger daughter is innocent, just like an eight year old ought to be. This remarkable contrast creates chemistry, making viewers interested in knowing what will happen next. The ending scene is painful and emotional, and yet not overdone or over-dramatic. I think "Grace Is Gone" is a good film to touch one's heart.

seadevil-1 This is a moving story of a man whose wife, a soldier, is killed in Iraq, and the almost unbearable task placed on him to tell his two daughters, aged 9 and 12, the terrible news. John Cusack played the part of the of the husband of the dead wife, and father of the girls, superbly. I tried to put myself in his position, having to break the news of their mother's death to the two youngsters, and it almost brought me to tears, as the end of the movie actually did.This movie is a fitting tribute to the young Americans who fight and sometimes die for the country and for the families of those who wait for their return; when sometimes the waiting is in vain.Whether the war is a just or unjust war or whether it's useless debacle, young men and women die whilst fulfilling what is, in their mind, their duty. The validity of the war detracts nothing from their heroism.