Grace Is Gone 2007

Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: 'Grace is Gone' works best in the quiet moments. ... Shelan O'Keefe couldn't be better ... this low-keyed weepie belongs to her. Read more

Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times: Despite the strength of the cast (in particular O'Keefe, who's making her film debut here and shows tremendous promise), it's hard to muster much enthusiasm for Grace Is Gone. Read more

J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader: Cusack's climactic confession is heartrending. But too many other moments strain credibility. Read more

Tasha Robinson, AV Club: Grace Is Gone attempts to address grief frankly, gently, and without didacticism, and it largely succeeds. Read more

Ty Burr, Boston Globe: Read more

Kevin Crust, Los Angeles Times: In a year that has seen wave after wave of films addressing the war in Iraq with varying degrees of anger and frustration, Grace serves as a gently thoughtful coda and reminder of what continues. Read more

Amy Biancolli, Houston Chronicle: Good intentions can only go so far. Read more

Lisa Schwarzbaum, 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. Read more

David Germain, Associated Press: It's stirring, even gut-wrenching, on the strength of John Cusack's terrifically restrained performance as a husband in denial over the death of his wife in Iraq. Read more

Jan Stuart, Newsday: Cusack has never been better; he disappears into his character's repressed skin so utterly, we can barely recognize in him the perky teen heartthrob of Say Anything. Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: Grace Is Gone is a small film, but mostly in all the right ways. Read more

Bob Mondello, NPR.org: Read more

Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News: This is a movie that lobs even appropriate criticisms from a safe distance, a flaw its strengths can't overcome. Read more

Kyle Smith, New York Post: A barbell of a movie that carries some weight at either end. What's in between is purely utilitarian, though. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: If Martian Child is the price film goers must pay in order to get Grace Is Gone, then it's a worthwhile trade. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: Not a great movie, simply functional, but Cusack gives a great performance. Read more

Andrew O'Hehir, Salon.com: All three [principal characters] sometimes just disappear into the affectless, low-energy drift of Grace Is Gone. They stare at carpets, curl up on motel room beds, sit on sidewalks, gaze at the featureless American landscape. Read more

Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: Depicts a side of the Iraq war, the American home front, that has been barely touched in other Iraq war movies. Read more

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Read more

Ben Kenigsberg, Time Out: It's a narrative strategy that neither informs, challenges nor heals. Read more

Ben Walters, Time Out: The focus is solidly on the human cost borne by those serving their country and their families. Read more

Claudia Puig, USA Today: A moving and tender family drama, built on the foundation of a serious contemporary issue. Read more

Todd McCarthy, 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. Read more

Scott Foundas, Village Voice: Rather than challenging our national aversion to unhappy endings, both in life and in cinema, [director] Strouse plays right into it. He's devised Grace Is Gone to work on our sentiments the way a porn movie works on our libidos. Read more