Grace of My Heart | | Cast : | Illeana Douglas, John Turturro | | Director : | Allison Anders | | Studio : | Universal Studios | | Format : | Color, Widescreen, Closed-captioned, Dolby | | Released Date : | September 13, 1996 | | DVD Released Date : | April 18, 2000 | | Language : | English (Dubbed), French (Dubbed), English (Subtitled), English (Original Language), French (Original Language) | | Audience Rating : | R (Restricted) | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | July 20, 2005 | | Summary | Great DVD for a great movie! | Content
 | I first saw this on encore or something a few years ago and loved it!Being a huge fan of the Brill building pop of the late 50s to the early 70s and an admirer of director Allison Anders I was all over this.I was quite happy with it!Great performances,music,and story arc.The dvd has a widescreen film with great sound,deleted scenes(w/3 music performances),a making-of featurette with cast and crew,and commentary from Anders.
Yay Universal! |
| Rating | | | Date | May 05, 2005 | | Summary | What exactly did you like about my record? | Content
| Shooting at just under two hours, this is one of those films where you nearly feel winded after watching it in its entirety. Not that it is a "bad" thing to have so much happening in just a short amount of time, but with Grace of My Heart it felt like a solid blow to the gut. The lack of air, the "whoosh" of intense pain, and the increased blurred vision due to the excitement of the punch were all experiences that I had while watching this film. For those that can sit here and claim that this was a perfect film, I really beg to differ, but I will be a very brave advocate towards the "originally average". This means that there were elements that I completely loved, followed in suit by elements that made me awaken at night in a pool of my own sweat. Grace of My Heart was one of those classic cinematic tug-o-wars that ultimately ended in a stalemate, but had fans on either side waiting for the final results.
Beyond the cryptic comparisons that I make above, there were moments of honesty, especially when I was thinking about the elements that worked and those that did not. You cannot talk about this film without giving Anders the credit that she deserves for the music. This film could not have survived without the talent that was behind the musical moments. The energy, emotion, and cultural independence were ravishing. Literally, it could take your breath away and you wouldn't have even realized it. It set the tone and created the atmosphere for this film. As a viewer, you could close your eyes, ignore the spoken words of this film, and get completely lost in the music. The way that Anders incorporated established, modern singers to bring this era of the 50s, 60s, and 70s to life were brilliant. She deserved the accolades that followed the musical footsteps of this film, sadly ... I don't think she quite had a firm grip on the rest of the story.
What I mean by this is that while the songs established the film, the story and characters hurt it. Illeana Douglas does exceptionally well with the material presented to her, but she just doesn't quite drag you into her life. You never quite feel as if you are right there with her experiencing her sorrows, excitements, and pain as she trudges through this man-infested life of hers. You watch her go through the motions, but you never feel that tear erupt or couch-excitement brew. It just doesn't happen, and why ... because 1) she never ages throughout the course of 20ish years (only gets thinner and thinner) 2) her voice is semi-whiney through the entire film causing us to feel like she was a bit sour and finally, 3) her consistent need for a man in her life. This latter I blame Anders. She never defines Waverly's character throughout the film. Is she a feminist? Is she as independent as we all thought? Does she create or simply steal from other's misfortunes? These are simple questions that should have been answered throughout the film, but instead we are nearly forced to explode (as stated before) as more and more information is jammed down our vision. It is nearly sickening. While Illeana doesn't carry the weight of disaster completely on her own shoulders, there are other characters that just didn't seem to fit the mold of the film. Bruce Davison and Matt Dillon seemed to be completely miscast in their respective roles, again constantly reminding us that we were watching a film, not immersing ourselves in a vivid story.
The only character that I can give credit towards is John Turturro's Joel Millner. Turturro took his "bit" part to a new level always giving enough so that we constantly waited for him to reappear on screen. He was like an animated cartoon that brought more to the screen than any of the other characters mentioned above. That is sad to see for a film of this caliber, but it is what occurred. So, you take the grandiose excitement of the music and couple it with some sub-par acting and what do you get? Grace of My Heart in its purest form.
Overall, it is never good to use more than one Fonda in your film. If you find yourself going with more than one, you should really be reconsidering your options. Matt Dillon completely ruined this film for me, while my keen eye had a blast picking out today's artists in this film. I just wish more was developed with Douglas' character. Why did she continually fall into love with the wrong men? Did anyone else catch that her creative songs were developed from the suffering of others? Finally, why did we bring up her family's fortune if it was never used throughout the film? I kept waiting for her to use her family money to build upon the climax of the film, but it never happened. I felt cheated, as I did several times during this film. It wasn't a bad movie by any means, but it just wouldn't stand out in a crowd. Grace of My Heart is the wallflower of the cinematic world.
Grade: ** out of ***** |
| Rating | | | Date | February 05, 2005 | | Summary | Grace of My Heart | Content
| Excellent movie, with a cast that fit their parts exceptionally. Illeana Douglas was excellent. I wish I could have played her part. I enjoyed the movie so much that I have watched it over and over, plus I purchased the movie soundtrack. I can't get enough of it. I grew up listening to Motown, and the sweet ballads of the 60's and 70's, so this was right up my alley. Two thumbs up to Allison Anders. At first, I had a hard time determining if this was a true story or not, it was put together so well. Having family who were part of the show business world since the 20's, I was so pleased with a story I felt I could truly relate to, though the story is not my own...though I wish it was. |
| Rating | | | Date | January 18, 2005 | | Summary | THIS MOVIE SHOULD HAVE BEEN GREAT... | Content
| but it isn't. It's a dull collection of the loves and songs of a woman songwriter spanning a couple of decades of musical history. The very beginning (the fitting/contest) is great, but then it quickly let me down. It's never involving; and I just felt embarrrassed for Matt Dillon as the Brian Wilson-like character. Illeana Douglas does a great job, it's to bad she didn't have a better story. |
| Rating | | | Date | April 28, 2002 | | Summary | Grace Of My Heart | Content
| Though this film will probably not have much appeal to anyone under 40, it is a clever and entertaining look at the most exciting and creative period in pop music history. Many 'stars' of this era are parodied here, and those familiar with the music of the 60's will immediately recognize the characters portrayed. The original music is beautiful, and recorded with incredible authenticty. John Turturro is marvelous as the New York hot-shot music publisher, carefully nurturing his latest discovery, a female songwriter (played by Illeana Douglas) who turns out hit after hit and makes a fortune for herself and the publishing company, but wants only to make her own record as a singer. "Denise" finally gets to do just that, but only after losing two husbands and for a short while, her own mind. This is one of just a few films that I watch at least 3 times a year. |
|
