Director - Craig Laurence Rice

“I try to present a human being that you are unable to forget” - A. Kurosawa

The story of CAN’T BUY GRACE is simple, raw, and realistic. It turns our characters inside out to reveal the desires and desperations of their souls. It is not a sentimental story. It reveals life in the lower depths of economic strata. And yet, within the struggle to live day-to-day, within limited options, there is hope. This hope is framed artfully within and up against the overarching tones of the story that are at times, empty, pointless, detailed pencil drawings of joyless existence revolving around the relentless search for money, alcohol and drugs. 

The film is told from the perspective of our lead character, Jen Darling. He lives in a small rural town where everyone knows everybody and everybody has secrets. Jen’s single focus is to better the life of his daughter Grace, a 5 year old girl caught in her mother’s wretched life as an addict. As a young father, Jen is desperate to rescue his daughter from a future that would destroy her innocence and spirit. Jen devises a dangerous plan, but sometimes a person must do a bad thing for the right reason. 

We will cast actors who can achieve the emotional palette and the dramatic range required for the execution of our story. 

The story calls for a specific visual language rooted in the landscape and emotions the actors will be called on to present.  Our visuals will include wide shots, short focal length, moving camera but limited handheld. Only scenes depicting high conflict, high confrontation and violence will be shot hand-held and these will be presented documentary style. All other scenes will move in fluid manner, designed around blocking and staging work with the actors. The film will draw upon the neo-realism quality of films like “Nomadland”, “Winter’s Bone”, “Frozen River”, “Biutiful”, “Never, Rarely, Sometimes, Always”, “Galveston” as well in the style of the still photography of Gordon Parks, Nan Goldin, Bruce Davidson, Stefan Erfurt, and Jacob Aue Sobol. Editing will be brisk to heighten the sense of time pressure in this fast-paced story. At the same time, we will preserve our focus on Grace and the message of love and hope she represents.

I have a great affection for the visual richness of the rural locales of the film. We will shoot on location in rural and small-town America and anchor the film’s visuals in the compelling richness of the place, its prairie expanse, its great skies, its vulnerable small towns, its sense of desperation. 

Sound design will be naturalistic with a hint of expressionism.  Music was my first art form and I will include varied musical samples from a range of sources to underscore and propel the emotional tension. I also believe in the power of silence to shape the audio landscape of the story and create dramatic tension.  

The film will depict the current life of rural USA shaped by economic downturn and a rapidly shrinking population caused by the death and departure of its people.  Our story will take into account the recent lockdown and the increased use of Meth that rages through these communities and takes more casualties than ever. Locations and environments will include rundown trailer homes, small town cafes, failed farms, and vacant shops.

My approach to film directing is much like a conductor of an orchestra, directing many artists toward the creation of a singular composition. I look to the images to express the interiority of the characters and underscore the dramatic arc of the narrative. These images will be created using the visual tools and techniques lost in many of today’s films—light, composition, mise-en-scene. 

My works, both fictional and non-fictional, explore and engage in social topics of the day. I bring a tremendous amount of personal experience, both positive and negative, to my work. I also bring a strong belief in humanity and a belief that allowing life to tell the stories gives us the most thoughtful, compelling, and relevant films. I want my work to feel as naturalistic as possible, to transport real life emotions to the audience, even while breathing a bit of magic realism into the work.