Grace Is Gone

• Though 2007 saw a flood of Iraq-related films, GRACE IS GONE takes a different approach from many of the others. Unlike REDACTED and LIONS FOR LAMBS, this directorial debut from screenwriter James C. Strouse (LONESOME JIM) doesn't focus on the conflict itself. Instead, the drama looks at how the death of a female soldier affects her family at home. John Cusack (1408) is Stanley Phillips, a hus

In one of his most acclaimed performances, John Cusack makes an astonishing transformation as Stanley Philips, a sad, disconnected man unable to tell his young daughters their mother, a soldier, has died in Iraq. Instead, he takes the girls on a road trip, where their innocent charm helps him rediscover a healing joy he thought he'd lost forever.Unlike previous Iraq War films, the poignant directorial debut from writer James C. Strouse (Lonesome Jim) uses the conflict as starting point rather th! an subject. Early in the proceedings, Stanley (John Cusack) finds out his wife has been killed in the line of duty. The bespectacled disciplinarian decides not to tell his daughters right away. In his younger days, Stanley tried to serve his country, but poor eyesight dashed that dream, and now he's a superstore manager. The sort of middle-American conservative rarely seen at the art house, Stanley believes in his president. That doesn't alleviate his pain. Putting on a brave face, he asks his oblivious girls for their greatest wish. Eight-year-old Dawn (Gracie Bednarczyk) exclaims, "Enchanted Gardens!" With that, they hop in their SUV and drive from Minnesota to the Florida theme park. Twelve-year-old Heidi (Shélan O'Keefe) knows something is wrong--her dad isn't the spontaneous type--but she doesn't know what it is. En route, they visit Stanley's brother, John (Alessandro Nivola), who offers some insight into their bottled-up father. By the end of the trip, Stanley figur! es out how to break the news, in the process becoming a real p! arent. A fter winning the Audience Award at Sundance, Clint Eastwood, Cusack's Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil director, gave the soundtrack a jazz-oriented overhaul. In tone, it's almost too refined for the blue-collar world Strouse depicts, but never distracting. More importantly, Grace Is Gone features Cusack’s finest performance to date. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

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A Good Old Fashioned Orgy Poster - Movie Promo Flyer - 11 X 17 Beach

• Flyer to advertise the movie A Good Old Fashioned Orgy
• A Good Old Fashioned Orgy movie promo flyer
• Size 11 x 17 inches approx (28 x 43 cm)
• Window display/ Telephone Pole Flyer sized Poster

A group of 30-year-olds who have been friends since high school attempt to throw an end-of-summer orgy Studio: Sony Pictures Home Ent Release Date: 12/27/2011 Starring: Jason Sudeikis Lake Bell Rating: R Director: Alex Gregory Peter HuyckA gaggle of best friends from college decide to get even more intimate in A Good Old Fashioned Orgy. Eric (Jason Sudeikis, Horrible Bosses) throws notoriously loud, over-the-top parties at his father's beach house--so when his father decides to sell it, Eric feels he has to throw one last bash to say farewell. But this time, rather than a big public party, he and his friends (Lake Bell, Michelle Borth, Nick Kroll, Tyler Labine, Ang! ela Sarafyan, Lindsay Sloane, and Martin Starr) decide to revive the 1970s with a private orgy. The movie harks back to raunchy 1980s R-rated comedies, but A Good Old Fashioned Orgy never finds its tone. Eric and his friends are self-absorbed, dithering, and just not very interesting people; Eric, in particular, is a smarmy trust fund baby whose attraction to a lithe real-estate agent (Leslie Bibb, Popular) plays out like an adolescent crush… which would be charming if Eric were adolescent, but he's in his 30s. Maybe the idea is that this petty crew confront their emotional limitations when they try to be sexually adventurous, but the results are neither revelatory nor even surprising. It doesn't help that the guys are ordinary looking to outright schlubby, while the women are all model-thin (and yet, of course, neurotic about their attractiveness). Some flashes of humor here and there, but overall, a misfire. --Bret FetzerA Good Old Fashioned Orgy mo! vie promo flyer

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