GRACE IS GONE
RYAN: I am outraged that I just went to see a movie solely because Marisa Tomei was in it, only to find out that she’s in it for 2 seconds and she doesn’t utter a word. Apparently that was her body in a lounge chair in one scene.
CAROLINE: Yes, it was, I saw her name in the credits, but there are plenty of other things to say about this movie. John Cusack stars as a man who loses his wife who’s a soldier in Iraq. You really should see this movie only if you love him or are a glutton for punishment. It’s a really sad, painful film.
RYAN: John Cusack looks terrible in this. He’s fat and hunched over and he has a weird walk. He looks like a serial killer with that hair and those glasses.
CAROLINE: Well, they did that on purpose for the character. He’s supposed to be an Average Joe working in middle management in Middle America. The glasses were the worst offense of all. They’re seriously ‘70s.
RYAN: They’re Jeffrey Dahmer glasses.
CAROLINE: So don’t go to this movie looking for any John Cusack hotness. He plays kind of a sad sack.
RYAN: This movie is totally a rental. I wasn’t bored and it’s definitely not too long at 85 minutes, but it doesn’t move at all. There’s one scene where one of the daughters goes missing at the mall and they’re searching for her and I was like “Finally, some action!”
CAROLINE: The acting in this movie is phenomenal. The two little girls who play his daughters are adorable and amazing. One is about 8, slightly chunky and very carefree. She has some hilarious lines such as when she’s jumping on the bed and announces, “I have to poop.” The other one is older and sort of gets what’s going on with her mom, but not fully. It’s a tortuous movie with a very painful subject, but it’s well done.
RYAN: The two little girls are totally natural and believable and sweet. I really loved them.
CAROLINE: Also noteworthy is that Clint Eastwood did the score for the film. The movie is really a vehicle for John Cusack to play a very dramatic role that we’re not used to seeing him in. He’s showing a different side of himself. Bottom line?
RYAN: This movie is fine and I didn’t hate it. I just felt like it was a waste of time to go see it in the theater. I would have rather waited to rent it or caught it on TV.
CAROLINE: But seriously, is this a movie you’re going to sit and watch on TV when it comes on? It’s so depressing. I think the last thing you’re going to flip on is a movie about dead moms and the war in Iraq. So you could also say, then why see it in the theater? Which brings me back to my original point, which is: see this movie if you love John Cusack or if you like to weep. The last scene of the movie almost killed me.