Independent Film News

John Cusack's Latest Speaks to War and Loss

John Cusack admittedly steals from Peter to help pay Paul. Rather, making big-budget films like America's Sweethearts, Must Love Dogs and Runaway Jury greenlight smaller projects that mean something to him, "the ones that kind of get me up in the morning."

AP interviewed the actor recently about his latest project, Grace is Gone, an independent drama. The film focuses on a side of the on-going war that Americans don't see--the flag-draped caskets that return from Iraq. Cusack calls the way the coverage of war casualties has been severely regulated is "shameful." He plays Stanley, a man whose wife is killed in Iraq. Instead of telling their two daughters about her death, he takes them on a road trip while he sorts out his own feelings.

The role is a departure from his varied cinematic history, and different from previous roles that usually bring in audiences. He's been the die-hard romantic since Say Anything..., and has kept up the laughs since Bullets Over Broadway. In my opinion, he was doing Vince Vaughn before Vince Vaughn was, and he'll always do it better. But Grace seems to be a part he's happy to break the mold for.

In fact, he's OK with waiting to see if this little effort will pay off big:

I'm not worried about how it turns out in the first two months after it's released. A piece of art takes a while to be appreciated or not — if it is a piece of art. You try to make something that has some value and then in three, four or five years, it will still be interesting or it will have a pulse.

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Tags: John Cusack Grace is Gone American Sweethearts Must Love Dogs Say Anything Vince Vaughn

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Posted by Lisa on June 12, 2006 05:17 PM
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