"Grace is Gone" (***)

"Grace is Gone" is a small film that boasts a strong central performance and a deftly written, yet familiar script.

Stanley Philipps works at Home Store "selling shit," while his wife is fighting in Iraq. He takes care of their two daughters while their mother is away, but the girls desperately need a mother in their life. One day, Stanley receives a visit by two officers informing him that his wife has died overseas. Stanly decides that rather than tell his two daughters what has just happened, he is going to take them on a road trip to wherever they want. The script is well-written and it is nice to see the film focus on a man losing his wife in the war, an aspect not commonly portrayed on film. The film is emotionally powerful, but as I was watching I felt like I had seen it before.

The performances also help to elevate this small film. John Cusack is this year's Sundance man. Last year it was Ryan Gosling in "Half Nelson," and the year before that it was Terrence Howard in "Hustle & Flow." If the Academy sticks to this pattern that has recently developed, then Cusack is on is way to an Oscar nomination, but I'm not so sure about that. I'm not sure this film is going to be as big as "Hustle & Flow" was, and while "Half Nelson" was a small film, Ryan Gosling delivered the best performance last year out of any of the four acting categories. Cusack's performance is worthy; I'm just not sure the film is going to be able to garner much awards attention. Also good are the two girls, Dawn and Heidi. Shelan O'Keefe, in particular, is excellent as Heidi. She is very mature for her age, and she is able to hold her own with John Cusack. I would be surprised if she did not receive either some breakthrough performance awards or child awards this awards season.

Overall, this film is an emotional and powerful film, but it may be too small to receive much attention. While the script is well-written, it seemed like I had seen it before. The film, however, is worth checking out for Cusack's strong performance as well as a breakout performance from newcomer Shelan O'Keefe.