Grace of My Heart

Grace Of My Heart is a great rock-n-roll movie. It is also a very good character based drama. The cast is very good with Illeana Douglas and John Turturro turning in great performances. The director, Allison Anders, has made a very tight and well constructed story. The music is great and I also enjoyed Matt Dillon's performance as a paranoid musical genius. This is a very good movie.

I just want to write a few words about one of the best songs I've ever heard, a song that appears in this movie and that is part of a work made together by Burt Bacharach and Elvis Costello. "God Give Me Strengh" is the central theme of the movie. A pity that the version sung by Kristen Vigard doesn't appear in the movie album, but just listening to it (dubbing Illeana Douglass) during the movie is worth watching the movie...

Costello's version is also great, by the way. It's part of an album made together by he and composer Bacharach later in 1998, titled "Painted from memory". The movie is just entertaining, Illeana plays an amazing role.

I was reminded of how really good this movie is today when I saw it on T.V. (with commercials ugh) I've seen it a few times before and every time I watch it, I bawl like a baby and I'm a guy. A really tough guy. But this movie goes straight to my heart and puts a squeeze on it through the wonderful music, the sweet nostalgia and what a cast!

Illeana Douglas is beautiful and she really plays her character with great talent. She's supported by a strong cast and how can you go wrong with Turturro playing Phil Specter? The first time I saw this there was something familiar about the music; the songs, like "God give me Strength". As much as I like Elvis Costello, that scene of Illeana performing it for Matt (Brian Wilson) Dillon was such a unique delivery of a pure and powerful vocal. I later found that the 'familiarity' is Burt Bacharach and the 'voice' is Kristin Vigard: Wow!

Back in those days there was such an explosion of music and creativity and Burt Bacharach was truly a pop force.

I loved the Brill Building scenes, especially when they were working on the songs. I thought the movie lost something when it moved west to California but was deeply moved by Douglas and Turturro 'having it out' at the empty poolside. The final song with the flashbacks and her crowning achievement of recording that "one great album" had me weeping again. I really like this movie so I ordered the DVD online.

"Grace Of My Heart" is similar to "Valley Of The Dolls" because the characters, in both films, are "loosely based" on actual people showing their rise & fall in show business. Illeana Douglas plays singer/songwriter Edna Buxton who becomes Denise Waverly. She's based on Carol Klein who became Carole King. A New Yorker who churned out hit after hit in the famous Brill Building. Where some of the action in "Grace Of My Heart" also takes place. John Turturro is based on record producer Phil Spector (complete with bad toupee & the wearing of sunglasses indoors). Matt Dillon fronts "The Riptides" (The Beach Boys). "The Luminaires" are based on girl groups like The Shirelles & The Chiffons. Bridget Fonda portrays "teenaged" angst-ridden, big-haired, bubblegum idol & lesbian Kelly Porter. There's no question that she's based on Lesley Gore. Interestingly, Lesley Gore wrote the tune Bridget lip synch's in the film, "My Secret Love" (which is a homage to Lesley's "You Don't Own Me"). The music in this movie is very good & has that 60's, 70's feel to it. I just wish the soundtrack album had included the tunes "Hey There" & "Grace Of My Heart" by Kristen Vigard who did the vocals for Illeana Douglas. If you like nostalgic movies about pop music like "The Idolmaker", "Grease", "That Thing You Do" & "Hairspray" you'll like this too.

I love rock and roll movies set in the 60s, and this is a fun one. Illeana Douglas is wonderful as Edna Buxton/Denise Waverly, and yes, she's only loosely based on Carole King (makes me think a bit of Carly Simon, too, since she's an heiress). I think John Turturro is a hoot as Joel Millner, of course, he's always great. Eric Stoltz and Matt Dillon are impressive, too, although the movie loses some impetus and impact when Denise moves to California with Jay (Dillon's character). Still, it's one of my favorites--I just received my DVD the other day and watched all of the special features that evening. It's a fun (albeit sometimes sad)movie!!!