Child of Grace (2014)

9-year-old Katie has spent most of her life traveling the country in an RV with her father. One day she sees a portrait of herself on a missing child poster and realizes that the man she ... See full summary »

Director:

Ian McCrudden

Writers:

Willie Hagan (screenplay), Ian McCrudden (screenplay)

Stars:

Thomas Hildreth, Maggie Elizabeth Jones, Ted Levine

1 win & 5 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Thomas Hildreth	...	John Johnson
Maggie Elizabeth Jones	...	Katie
Ted Levine	...	Chief Edwards
Emma Myles	...	Dana Edwards
O-Lan Jones	...	Mae Edwards
James Parks	...	Graham
Tonantzin Carmelo	...	Kaya
John Cariani	...	Ollie
Jeffrey von Meyer	...	Dan
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Elaine Bard	...	Police Dispatcher
Ron Canada	...	Doctor
Zack Cushing	...	Bar patron (credit only)
Carly Gowan	...	Adult golden retriever
Jason Howe	...	Veteran #1

Storyline

9-year-old Katie has spent most of her life traveling the country in an RV with her father. One day she sees a portrait of herself on a missing child poster and realizes that the man she thinks is her loving father may be her kidnapper. As Katie contends with this discovery, a small-town sheriff, her grandfather, simultaneously tries to figure out the truth of her disappearance when new evidence surfaces. Based on the novel June Bug by Chris Fabry.

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Plot Keywords:

saving a life | child in peril | child raising | trapped in a car | drowning rescue | 

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Genres:

Drama | Mystery

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Certificate:

PG-13

User Reviews

minimalist amount of victim-hood and preaching.

I acquired this movie because of Maggie Elizabeth Jones being a lead actress as she was in two other movies I loved: We Bought a Zoo and Away and Back. The plot of a young girl with an apparently loving daddy on an endless road trip seeing a missing child poster with what looks like herself, even down to the birthmark, intrigued me. What does a child think when she is abruptly confronted with what appears to be a new reality that her Dad may or may not be her real Dad, but a kidnapper? The script writer should be congratulated and the novelist Chris Fabry, author of June Bug (highly recommended) on which the movie is based should be congratulated for a touching cliffhanger.

The opening credits, as both of her previous movies, was brilliant with lovely views of her and her father sharing adventures in the western USA, but with a barely noticeable foreboding at the same time. From the opening credits onward there is not a moment where I wasn't on the edge of my chair wondering how the whole thing is going to work out.

Its strange that in the past few years girls have been playing different roles in American culture. The victim role is an old cliché by now. For awhile there were two other common roles for girls: horror and fantasy. I never liked the horror any better than the victim. Fantasy? I wish they'd make the Golden Compass series into a TV series. Girl heroes, love it. Lately girls are starring in Christian redemption movies. these can be icky but better than horror or victim, only if it isn't preaching into my face. Child of Grace, in spite of the title, gets by with a minimalist amount of victim-hood, horror and preaching.

Philosophically there are three things I object to. The first is depicting God as forgiving the most atrocious of behavior. I myself am not forgiving. The second is the complete lack of rights of the child to be anything but property by blood and excusing toxic behavior because it is the law. The third is treating men worse than dogs. Child of Grace deals with these issues. How successfully it does is up to the viewer in accordance with their ideology and belief.

An excellent movie. Ten stars.

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

20 September 2014 (USA)

Also Known As:

Lake Girl

Filming Locations:

Maine, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Sternman Productions, Epiphany Pictures (II)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

107 min

Color:

Color