The TV Addict 

GRACE IS GONE
Man, it’s great to be reminded every now and then why I love John Cusack so much. Heck, it’s great to be reminded that he can still flex his acting muscles and not play a variation on a character he’s been playing for years (I say that with complete love). GRACE IS GONE of course is not just worth checking out for John Cusack though, or the other impressive performances, most notably first-timer Shelan O’Keefe. It’s an excellent film in its own right. It’s a sweet, deliberately paced and emotional look at a man dealing with grief, learning how to be a father when his children need one the most. Most poignantly it reminds us all that it’s often our own children whom we need to heal, and from whom we can draw strength in order to in turn be strong for them. All of this is conveyed in scenes that echo real life father/daughter behavior so realistically, that sometimes I forgot it involved a major Hollywood star. Sure, some have criticized the film for its seeming apolitical stance, but its humane approach to this story is precisely where its politics can be found. Above all else it’s a universal tale of the decidedly human “at home” cost of war, but that theme can easily lead you down a path to wondering whether the current Iraq War is worth that cost. Whether you choose to go down that path the film leaves entirely up to you, and that is why GRACE IS GONE proves what I feel is the key to the success of any political film: letting you choose to make politics out of a film, instead of letting a film choose politics for you.
Overall rating: A-

NATIONAL TREASURE: BOOK OF SECRETS
I know a lot of people hated the first NATIONAL TREASURE, writing it off as a INDIANA JONES knock-off, a DA VINCI CODE knock-off, or well, just bad. I’m honestly not entirely sure why it earned such ire, because I thought it was a genuinely fun action adventure treasure hunting movie. Outlandish, of course, but that’s sort of the point. It was also a film that didn’t really need a sequel, though it was obviously inevitable. That brings us to BOOK OF SECRETS, which like many poorly executed sequels drains and dilutes the franchise’s magic, rather than adding to it. It’s not a bad film, nor is it an unexciting one, it’s just too much of a slave to its own success. It tries too hard to be like the first one (even ripping itself off at times), resulting in a film that wants to be fun, but can’t break through feeling formulaic and as if it’s going through the motions.
Overall rating: C+

THE AIR I BREATHE
I’m generally a big fan of films like this one that are basically thematic shorts or vignettes that overlap in both plot and characters. It’s probably why in addition to the cast, while watching THE AIR I BREATHE I thought I was watching something I liked, until the film ended and it completely unraveled in my esteem. The actors all provide pretty good performances, a feat you appreciate all the more when you later realize they had nothing to work with. The film actually pulls off a clever trick because you feel like you’re watching something with gravitas, but it ultimately amounts to almost nothing but forced tragedy and stumbling efforts towards meaning. If there’s anything worse than films that pretentiously aim for greater meaning, it’s those that fail on top of it. Everything in the film, including the characters and stories, is so thinly sketched that (forgive the pun) it might as well be the air I breathe, except much less necessary for my survival.
Overall rating: C