The storyline is simple and clear. When a father learns that his wife is killed in Iraq, he doesn't tell his two daughters the bad news right away, but instead takes them to Phantasm for a vacation. He knew that once he told his daughters that their mother was gone, they would never be happy again. He was going to give them one last laugh before losing something precious.
The story of father and daughter, another one is Ang Lee's "Diet Men and Women". There are similarities in both films, a family lacking a mother, the father must protect the broken family with a hard shell, and the sister slowly plays a part of the role of the mother. However, the lack of a mother and wife makes the man's weakness and hardness a bit ridiculous, and the girl's tender maturity is also lovable.
A few details are interesting.
At the beginning of the movie, several military family members poured their hearts together. The male protagonist is the only male military family member and cannot communicate with the other female military family members at all.
The voice of his wife Grace has always been preserved in the phone messages at home. The father and daughter are on the way away from home, and they call home from time to time to chat with his wife's phone voice. Perhaps only by leaving home can he temporarily keep the illusion that his wife is still alive.
The eldest daughter is already sensible and often loses sleep at night. After getting pierced ears, the younger daughter suddenly grew up and got into a small toy house in the store. Without the presence of a mother, some rights of being a daughter are slowly being deprived.
The anti-war element is a feature of many American films, and the film features an uncle, a liberal slob. There is also the most classic dialogue between father and eldest daughter.
Daughter: "Why does she have to go?"
Father: "She is doing her duty as a soldier, you know."
Daughter: "Yeah, but why?"
Father : "We talked about this, people all over the world are looking for safety. When a threat is discovered, measures must be taken. The world is like this."
Daughter: "The news said that we made the wrong person, and the threat does not exist."
Father: "TV can't be trusted, can it. Sometimes you just have to believe that what you're doing is right, and we can still get faith." (Cusack now expresses his weak words with an unsure look.)
Daughter: "What if we can't?"
Father: "Then we're lost."
That's how a good movie I like should be. It tells the story seriously and shows the details clearly.
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