Here by the Grace of ...
It's been ten years since Stephen Landis (Tom Selleck - Monte Walsh) and his ex-wife, Angela (Wendy Crewson - The Wandering Soul Murders), got divorced with Angela moving to the city with their daughter, Dulcie (Maggie Grace - Murder in Greenwich), and since then Stephen has met Leah (Anna Gunn) and along with her teen daughter, Roxanne (Tegan Moss - Seventeen and Missing), have moved in. It is then that a struggling Angela calls up as Dulcie has gone off the rails and wants Stephen to have his daughter stay with him for the summer at his Idaho farm. But despite being chalk n cheese Dulcie and Roxanne get on, leading to Dulcie growing closer to her father despite having not been there for most of the last 10 years.
You know what sort of movie this is don't you, rebellious teenager spends time on a ranch and transforms by the time that summer is over. I am not even going to try and tell you that "Twelve Mile Road" is any different because that would be an act of futility. What I will say is that where as similar movie have often focused more on being charming this one focuses on the problems and doesn't hold back with an interesting turn of events especially when it comes to Roxanne.
What do I mean? Well thanks to Maggie Grace her character Dulcie is a full on bad girl who we not only see chopping off her hair with a pen knife and getting a tattoo but when she is hugging her mum to say bye she menacingly tells her that she hates her. Yet we also have Angela who can't cope with her and is admittedly abandoning her with her father out of selfish reasons as she fears for her own sanity. But on top of that we have Roxanne who whilst a good girl is at that age where she is easily influenced and led astray. It makes for an interesting mixing pot of drama as we also have Stephen and Leah's fledgling relationship and even a Christian youth group which is important to many in the area, with faith playing a prominent part in this drama.
What is certain is that "Twelve Mile Road" benefits greatly from the casting. On one hand you have Tom Selleck bringing that calm to the character of Stephen but also making him the sort of father who for all his laid back nature has a certain ethic about him which he wants others to gain for themselves. And then there is Maggie Grace who goes to town on make Dulcie the rebellious bad girl who is likely to lead people astray rather than calm herself down and grow up.
What this all boils down is that "Twelve Mile Road" isn't a movie which does anything you won't have seen before but it certainly does a good job of bringing plenty of drama to the mix. And it certainly benefits from the acting of all involved, especially Tom Selleck and Maggie Grace.
