The Road to Galena

Ben Winchell and Aimee Teegarden star as high school sweethearts who have plenty of challenges thrown at them throughout their lives. A well-conceived drama about the stresses of all different sorts of relationships (but particularly father-son) and life in small farming towns, where, increasingly, small, privately-owned farms are being swallowed up by larger companies.

The film also (quite bravely) touches on more difficult subjects like suicide, and has a little of the usual small-town drama you might find in a Hallmark movie, though with it's often heavy subject matter, it definitely isn't one of those. A somewhat predictable ending, but Aimee Teegarden and Ben Winchell were great.

This is set in Kent County Maryland but i doubt any of the writers / filmmakers actually know or have talked to (seen??) people from there. It seems like somebody's (with money) romantic, idyllic view of what the country is like and what it would be like to be a farmer. Like somebody from the western shore of Maryland, who has vacationed on the eastern shore or driven through Galena, thought the sleepy towns and farms were pretty, and made up a story about them. The eastern shore has a pretty distinctive accent too and i would have liked to have seen that represented. A nice try, with good music and nice shots of Kent County but not even close. Still i am glad this film exists.

Another mediocre movie made almost unbearable to watch because of the fake vocal fry voice of Alisa Allapach.

Why oh why do these B and C list actresses insist on faking that silly juvenile voice?

The story wasn't up to much, pretty predictable from 20 mins in as to the way it would go. Nothing new here. Extremely annoying though to listen to that fake voice which in the end I muted whilst she was speaking. A real turn off for me.

This film carried many sophisticated themes on its back for the full duration. Unfortunately they imploded under the weight of a Hallmark-style/Nicolas Sparks-style delivery. The widow of so-many-months suddenly is open to her first love, is convenient. The managing partner who committed to the firm a few months previous is now sticking a flag in his tiny hometown to fight big business. There are too many superheroes and too many villains for this to be real. The real takeaway is that innumerable martyrs have complicated the field for the living by doing disingenuous things, rather than listening to ones whom they claimed to love. This was a fabricated and convoluted conflict story based upon the sum ignorance of mortals.

In a film industry saturated with the recycled stories of life in the city, the Road to Galena provides a refreshing window into the life of Cole Baird, a man who dreams of running his own farm. While he wants to follow his dream, he's torn between his desires and the expectations of family.

Joe Hall does a wonderful job of depicting the struggle that's all to relatable to the majority of viewers. His direction was executed to perfection by Ben Winchell, playing Cole Baird, and Aimee Teegarden, playing Elle Shepard. But what really brought the show home was the stellar performance of Jay Sanders, playing John Baird. The raw emotion was palpable and anchored any scene he was in.

Overall, I would recommend The Road to Galena to any viewer who's looking for a story that differs from the oh so familiar cookie cutter formula present in today's movies. It's well worth the watch and will leave you wanting more.