Gracie's Choice

 

Our rating: 3 out of 5

Rated: PG

reviewed by: Charity Bishop

True life stories of triumph over adversity make for excellent television drama, and Lifetime has a history of producing them. Some of their docudramas are a little too sugary to be taken seriously, but the same does not hold true for Gracie's Choice, a gritty, emotionally hard-hitting story about one young woman's struggle against an abusive mother.

For as long as she can remember, Gracie (Kristen Bell) has been pushed from one place to another, woken up in the middle of the night, dragged out to the car, and forced to leave friends and beloved pets behind as she trails along with her brothers and sister after their druggie mom. Rowena (Anne Heche) acts more like an oversize hormonal teenager than a mom to five needy kids. Their latest bust and release by the cops has forced them to abandon their former life and start over again, this time turning to Rowena's mother Louela (Diane Ladd) for financial assistance. Getting up in years, and after repeatedly having her heart broken by her daughter's selfish behavior, Louela wants nothing to do with them apart from seeing that food gets on the table and they have a roof over their heads. 

Back in school and with the local counselor breathing down her neck over her tumultuous grades, Gracie's life is turned upside down when her Rowena and her latest boyfriend are arrested for drug possession and put in the pen. Forced through the emotional hell of being tossed in a girl's correctional facility with her sister, Gracie never wants to go back there again, and will do anything in her power to keep her brothers with her, even if it means taking her mother to court. The result is a film that does not sugarcoat abuse. No one can look at Rowena and find her anything but a bad parent. It was all the more emotional for me, because I know people just like her. The fact that this is a true story is not really sold until the end, but it is so honest and edgy that you know it has to be right off the bat. The first scene is Rowena leaving the family dog behind for no other reason than sheer meanness, while her children shout and cry in the backseat.

It isn't fun, folks, but at the same time it's a movie in many respects that must be seen just for the experience of understanding that there are kids out there who go through this every day. And the fact that Gracie rose above her circumstances to be a responsible, caring adult is remarkable. The way certain adults rally behind her is miraculous. There is a mild element of faith involved in the presence of their god-fearing but sometimes stern grandmother, but for the most part she does this on her own, through sheer force of will and determination to be a good mother to her brothers. Content is not bad at all, but there are a lot of thematic elements as well as implications of abuse. Rowena's boyfriend fondles Gracie's backside; she smacks him over the head with a beer bottle, and is punched for it (the blow draws blood). Her mother doesn't care that she has been manhandled. Louela accuses Rowena in veiled dialogue of sleeping with guys while her children are present. Gracie kisses and embraces her boyfriend; later, her mother accuses her of inappropriate behavior.

(The film leaves it ambiguous as to whether or not anything happened, although she may have later been suffering from morning sickness). Gracie's sister turns up pregnant. There are several intense scenes in which Rowena becomes violent. In one of them, she slaps her daughter and knocks her to the floor, throws her mother against the wall, and then sits on Gracie and screams at her. A drive by shooting ends in bullets barely missing the children. There is a feeling of general anxiousness as the film moves toward its ultimate conclusion, because the audience is emotionally involved and doesn't want the kids going back to their mother, but ultimately it is a heartwarming story about one remarkable young woman who flouted all odds to become someone her brothers could not only depend on, but look up to. It's not drama lite, but it is impacting.