JOHN CUSACK - NEW ROLE MAKES CUSACK ANGRY ABOUT IRAQ'S SILENT BODY COUNT

NEW ROLE MAKES CUSACK ANGRY ABOUT IRAQ'S SILENT BODY COUNT

Movie star JOHN CUSACK hopes his harrowing new movie will lead to debates about the US troops coming home from Iraq in bodybags. The HIGH FIDELITY star plays a dad trying to come to terms with his soldier wife's death in the line of duty in first-time director JAMES C STROUSE's new movie GRACE IS GONE, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in Utah over the weekend (20-21JAN06). And the portrayal touched a nerve for Cusack, who admits he can sympathise with families whose sons, daughters, husbands and wives are simply sent home without fanfare in bodybags. He fumes, "I thought it was the most brazen, cowardly, egregious political act I'd seen in my lifetime. "Do you think that's going to stop anything? Do you think if you don't show the coffins we won't find out?" In the film, Cusack plays a pro-war patriot, who missed out on the chance to serve his country due to his poor eyesight. He's glad Saturday's (20JAN07) premiere led to great discussion among Sundance regulars, many of whom left the cinema in tears. Director Strouse adds, "I hope it's the type of story that holds up five or 10 years from now, but I hope that it does sort of hit a nerve."