God, this is a terrible film based on wonderful and talented people. The credits state that all characters are fictitious, but clearly they are based on real people. Carole King, Gerry Goffin, Cynthia Weil, Phil Spector, Brian Wilson, Barry Mann et al, are all acquaintances (and clearly on display) in this fictitious drama about songwriting and singers in the 60's. The real shame is that there is a fantastic story that really happened with all these folks in this era that deserves a documentary or docudrama (sorry Vinyl, you are definitely not it). Another shame is that the music that was assembled for the film, whether original or compiled, is fantastic and deserving of a much better film. When Shawn Colvin shows up playing and singing, sitting on a stump towards the end of the film, all I can do is drop my chin and shake my head...what a waste of talent.

i don't expect everyone to love this movie. I do think that while it isn't a masterpiece that it has one of the best story lines ever. I loved it pure and simple for the musical it wanted to be and the drama that it was.best Illeana douglas act i have seen.haven't seen her since goodfellas but i think she did wellhad it been by some large star the movie would have been hugestill im disappointed i'm struggling to find this movie in Aussie format on DVD for my sister this Christmas. she loves the movie.someone suggest another movie to find. or give me details of where to get it in PAL format

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 *****

This movie instantly jumped onto my top ten worst movies ever - the top of which has been held for years now by "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band". Weak directing and poor acting start to finish - I never thought John Turturro was capable of this bad a performance - he seems to know that the project is ludicrous and so camps it up way beyond what the shallow character created for him can sustain.Just about every scene in this film rings completely false; each scene seems painfully contrived to hit us over the head with some supposed step in the main character's development (or lack thereof). And while these concocted scenarios are supposed to place us in a particular situation in a particular era, they all seem to point to a sloppy and badly distorted cultural chronology; this is the music industry and pop-culture-in- general regurgitated as if by some cheesy television production.The film is very obviously about Carole King - except when it finds it convenient to be completely off-the wall fictional. In this story she marries an undisguised Brian Wilson - or maybe it's not Brian Wilson because this bad actor walks into the ocean and drowns. (Oh the obvious/odious "Good Vibrations" recording session - it's by the Riptides! - get it? That's the sad level of half-baked analogy this film resorts to throughout. Ugh!)And then there's the beatnik stuff, the hippie commune, the Brian Wilson guru character - I could go on and on... but I'd rather start trying to forget this cinematic bludgeoning I experienced last night. (I still shudder to this day when my brain, against my will, brings back to mind George Burns bursting forth with "For the Benefit of Mr.Kite" in that other, above-mentioned, waste of film.)P.S. Elvis Costello and Burt Bacharach should have kept their amazing "God Give Me Strength" away from this shallow project.