The movies that purport to honour the war dead — from All Quiet on the Western Front to Saving Private Ryan — can often do just the opposite. “War is hell!” they say, in the middle of a whizz-bang battle scene. “Especially this bit!” Which is perhaps why one of the greatest modern movies of remembrance features no guns, no explosions and no battles at all. Instead Grace is Gone, a quietly dignified drama from 2007, stars John Cusack as a taciturn Middle American called Stanley whose soldier wife is killed in Iraq, off screen, in the movie’s first few minutes.

Stanley has two daughters, 12-year-old Heidi (Shélan O’Keefe) and eight-year-old Dawn (Grace Bednarczyk). He is a stern, distant, but not uncaring father. Unable to break the news to his children, he takes them to Florida, to the Enchanted Gardens theme park — a paradise for Dawn, but an imposition for the older, resentful Heidi. The stage is thus set for a harrowing emotional journey — one in which every delicate joy gleaned from Stanley’s deepening relationship with his children is undercut by the terrible knowledge he holds, and is waiting to deliver.

The movie, which was deemed an Iraq-themed downer, was never released in British cinemas and was given a desultory opening in the US. This was a mistake. For though the subject is ostensibly political, the film is never less than humanistic, and is always compassionate. Stanley, for instance, after a bitter argument with Heidi, runs to a payphone and dials his dead wife’s answering service. “Grace,” he says, voice breaking, “I’m such a mess. I don’t know how to talk to these girls. You’ve got to tell me what to do!” Your heart will break.

Kevin Maher

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