I had assumed that the reason Grace Is Gone had done so poorly at the box office was because people did not want to see a film with a depressing premise in the middle of a massive recession, and a still-raging war. Now, after viewing, I realize that the low turnout was probably more due to the fact that it's simply not be a very good film.
The movie starts out strong, but it's all downhill after the first 10 minutes. It moves at a glacial pace, the plot does not appear to be well thought out, the dialogue is pedestrian, the actions of the main character strain credibility, and there is not one remotely surprising moment in the entire film. Not to mention that it is shot in quite the banal fashion, with sloppy, clichéd camera setups, which don't do much for the visuals in the film. I'll take blatant sentimentality, (don't worry, there's some of that too), over complete boredom any day. I was surely not looking for car chases or gunfights, but simply something to hold my attention, which can be done with the simplest of stories. The director simply seems to lack experience or confidence in trying to tell the story in any other way than he imagined it when writing the script. And from script to screen is where an good idea turns into a great film.
The script itself seems without focus and a bit amateur; the type that will occasionally win screen writing competitions, but will almost never make it to the big screen. I can only imagine that the main reason the film was even made was because it piqued the interest of its star, John Cusack. However, a great role (and Cusack is indeed quite good here), does not make up for a film that goes nowhere. There are whole scenes that could've been cut in half, but instead the actions, or lack thereof, of the characters are lingered on with a preciousness that those moments do not deserve. We all know that kids annoy each other and their parents. We don't need 20 shots of this. I can only imagine the disappointment of a couple, who paid for a babysitter and a night out at the movies, and was treated to the insipid, maudlin environment they could've seen by simply staying at home with their own kids. It's a subject matter that had a lot of potential and could've been quite the good film if handled more deftly.
The movie starts out strong, but it's all downhill after the first 10 minutes. It moves at a glacial pace, the plot does not appear to be well thought out, the dialogue is pedestrian, the actions of the main character strain credibility, and there is not one remotely surprising moment in the entire film. Not to mention that it is shot in quite the banal fashion, with sloppy, clichéd camera setups, which don't do much for the visuals in the film. I'll take blatant sentimentality, (don't worry, there's some of that too), over complete boredom any day. I was surely not looking for car chases or gunfights, but simply something to hold my attention, which can be done with the simplest of stories. The director simply seems to lack experience or confidence in trying to tell the story in any other way than he imagined it when writing the script. And from script to screen is where an good idea turns into a great film.
The script itself seems without focus and a bit amateur; the type that will occasionally win screen writing competitions, but will almost never make it to the big screen. I can only imagine that the main reason the film was even made was because it piqued the interest of its star, John Cusack. However, a great role (and Cusack is indeed quite good here), does not make up for a film that goes nowhere. There are whole scenes that could've been cut in half, but instead the actions, or lack thereof, of the characters are lingered on with a preciousness that those moments do not deserve. We all know that kids annoy each other and their parents. We don't need 20 shots of this. I can only imagine the disappointment of a couple, who paid for a babysitter and a night out at the movies, and was treated to the insipid, maudlin environment they could've seen by simply staying at home with their own kids. It's a subject matter that had a lot of potential and could've been quite the good film if handled more deftly.