First Pick: Tender Mercies is a remarkable film about a country and western singer, a widow, and her son who try to drive away the shadows of the past in order to become strong in the broken places of their lives. Along the way they become instruments of God's grace for each other.

• An extraordinary documentary profiles the bestselling author and New Age teacher Ram Dass and his recovery from the "fierce grace" of a stroke. (Ram Dass Fierce Grace)

• A documentary about a man dying of ALS proves that grace abounds in the process of letting go and preparing for death. (The Man Who Learned to Fall)

• A mythological story revolves around a depressed World War I veteran who finds his authentic self during a golf tournament, thanks to the graceful presence of a spiritual guide in the guise of a caddy. (The Legend of Bagger Vance)

• An imaginative children's film traces a boy's journey in the desert where he keeps experiencing coincidences and where hints of grace shower down upon him at a place called God's Thumb. (Holes)

• A enchanting Scottish film about miracles ends with two moments of grace. (Gospel According to Vic)

• A parabolic Italian film about freedom, death, and grace is set during World War II. (The Night of the Shooting Stars)

• A power family drama depicts how grief and guilt can trouble us and how a stranger can in a moment of grace release us from these burdens. (The Stone Boy)

• The story of a young woman who has been isolated from civilization and the two scientists who befriend her reveals how we can be angels bringing grace and trust and light into each other's lives. (Nell)

• The gifts of trust and love are graces in the lives of a troubled teenager and a man with a badly scarred face. (The Man Without a Face)

• Friendship is revealed as a grace that can save and even transform lives (Good Will Hunting)

• A middle-aged man longs for meaning and the grace that can change his life. (Light Sleeper)

• Grace is evident in the quirky way certain people are put together just when they need each other most. (Manny and Lo)

• Miracles cannot be summoned by command; they happen spontaneously by grace, and often to those who least expect them. (Leap of Faith)

• A Mexican widow experiences the divine in grace-filled moments of mystery. (Santitos)

• A good-hearted loser keeps bumping into grace despite (or maybe because of) his thievery, drug addiction, humiliations, and frequent encounters with death. (Jesus' Son)

• A lapsed Catholic is surprised by grace and a defiant unbeliever is convinced to believe in a film version of Graham Green's religious novel. (The End of the Affair)

• Members of a poor Irish family are bowled over by a totally surprising and exalted moment of grace. (Dancing at Lughnasa)

• An Elvis impersonator becomes a bearer of grace to a man drowning in a sea of grief. (Finding Graceland)

• A contemporary version of a Dickens classic revels in the unexpected gifts of grace. (Great Expectations)

• An inventive parable reenacts the graceful journey of the Magi. (Cammina, Cammina)

• The story of Jesus is recounted as a free fall into grace, laughter, and love. (Godspell)

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