Outstanding film dealing with a 16 year old who tries to bring stability to a totally dysfunctional family.There is a truly outstanding performance by Anne Heche as the dysfunctional mother who neglects her children to lead a most disgusting life in pursuit of a good time. Heche is ably supported by Diane Ladd, a religious woman who can quote the bible but could not control her rebellious daughter.The film deals with how a sharp 16 year old has to learn to play the system to keep her brothers together. Bright, perceptive and unfortunately victimized by a sick mother, Kristen Bell gives a splendid performance.I enjoyed the part where she meets a black young man who becomes her boyfriend. Nothing is made of the inter-racial relationship nor the fact that the young man has a black father and white mother.This film shows that a court system can work to the advantage of its victims.

Gracie's Choice is about Gracie Thompson. She is a 17-year-old girl who at a very young age becomes a surrogate mother for her half brothers and half sister. To make matters even more complicated all her siblings have different surnames and nobody knows who their real father is. They live an itinerant life style with their mother. The mother Rowena is heavily involved with drugs and boasts two dependency problems. Her different boyfriends they move from town to town, from school to school and in their mother's case man to man. It is only when they move back to their mother's hometown and the introduction of their Christian grand mother that their unorthodox family situation begins to deteriorate. Their grand mother is a lovely woman whose Christian beliefs bring relief to her in times of trouble. She is totally unlike her daughter in every way but becomes an easy target for the desperate Rowena as she free loads on her. Gracie's attitude towards her mother changes during this period. Sexual advances that her mother's current druggie boyfriend is making towards her bring it on. A situation that makes her mother turns a blind eye towards because she feels that this man is the one for her. Of course this excuse and behavior is something that Gracie has heard seen time and time again. With the arrest of her mother and her subsequent incarceration we see Gracie comfortably take the reigns of her family, with the stability provided by them staying at their grandmothers Gracie without any hesitation or arguments decides to fight for her right to adopt her brothers and protect them from the every present threat of their real mothers return.As far as these TV Movies go this is in my opinion definitely one of the better ones. Bearing in mind that it is based on a true story and many of the events filmed are invariably dramatized to appeal to the audience. What I really hate about these movies is the fairy tale tone that is applied to the overall presentation. Principle character is involved with some nasty people, a moment of clarity dawns on the principle character, a fight for their right to survive ensues, and the principle character wins. They all live happily ever after. I am sure the people who this was based on are now happy but that did not happen over the stroke of the judge's gavel like it did in this film. The story is very strong and credible up until the end and after seeing it I felt somewhat cheated.The one aspect of this film I really did enjoy however was the performances of the leading actors. Anne Heche as Rowena is very strong and consistent but typical of the over dramatization that happens in the adaptations of true stories. Diane Ladd as the grand mother is also very strong but Kristin Bell who plays the lead character Gracie out shines both of these experienced actresses. I really disliked her as an actress before I saw this and I thought she was only capable of repeating her Veronica Mars persona (a show I utterly despise). But as Gracie Thompson she plays her trademark persona of being an independent young woman but she ingenuously gels the emotions of confusion, loneliness, fear, love, warmth and intelligence. This marks her out as being a mature actress for her age group. She really made me sit up and take notice and in this day in age where pretty so called actresses are a dime a dozen she not only walks the walk, but talks the talk.Gracie's Choice will not be for everybody's taste but it is well worth the watch for the inspiring story alone. 8 out of 10.

Gracie had some tough choices to make in this movie, playing mom to 3 brothers and a sister are choices that any teenager should not have to make, once in a while you'd care for siblings under the supervision of your parents, you'd simply carry out the instructions. Gracie had to make decisions for everyone, basically she put her life on hold, And as mentioned earlier, her boyfriend came across as stupid, one moment he's in love and admiring her strength and the next he's urging her to chuck it in and throw her lot with him and "his nouveau riche" family. It seemed stupid and trite and somewhere out, there's one stupid man who's lost the woman of his life.Anne Heche's drugged out mom was over-stretched but drugs do things to people, I was glad that Gracie's influence held the kids together.The scene where the boys had to decide who they'd live was heart-wrenching and actually brought tears to my eyes. Watching the youngest one, talk about his love for horses but wanting to sleep in his bed and wake up at home with Gracie totally melted me.This is a story that touches the heart, my hat's off to the real Gracie.You rock Sista, you really do.Kristen Bell actually made the character believable, she was and is still Gracie for me.SOUND SOLID MOVIE

Gracie (Kristen Bell) is not your average 16-year-old girl. For as long as Gracie can remember, she has been raising her four siblings, each of whom has a different, absent father. Gracie's mother (Anne Heche) seems to be on the fast track to self-destruction, while Gracie's well-meaning grandma (Diane Ladd) is too old and frail to provide a stable home. When the children's lives are about to be pulled apart, Gracie will have to do the impossible and make great sacrifices to keep her siblings together.Kristen Bell's performance is the main reason to invest two hours watching "GRACIE'S CHOICE." Bell is in most every single scene of the film and she plays her dysfunctional part with all-American charm. Bell appears poised for great success in Hollywood.Produced by the LIFETIME CHANNEL, "GRACIE'S CHOICE" is a watchable made-for-TV drama inspired by actual events. Keep your ears peeled for the original song "I Belong" performed by Cherie exclusive to this film.