Parents' Guide to

Twelve

By Barbara Shulgasser-Parker, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 8+

Talented young athlete overcomes challenges to excel.

Movie NR 2019 92 minutes
Twelve Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

  • Twelve Movie: Scene #1
  • Twelve Movie: Scene #2
  • Twelve Movie: Scene #3

Community Reviews

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age 9+

Based on 4 parent reviews

catrachela
catrachela Adult
July 25, 2020
age 10+

`Worth Watching

This movie was a wholesome story about strong family values, dreaming big, developing confidence but also putting in the hard work necessary to achieve goals. The family was solid. The dad especially modeled what an exemplary dad should be like, but not in an overly-unachievable way. He had his flaws as well but also corrected his mistakes. There were a few word choices we wish wouldn't have been used (totally unnecessary) that indicated a curse word would be said, but never right out said it. Again, unnecessary and could have been left out completely. Overall, our family enjoyed the movie and we do not regret watching it.

This title has:

Great messages
Great role models
1 person found this helpful.
Movies2Love
Movies2Love Adult
May 29, 2021
age 7+

Entertaining family friendly movie

Its hard to find fun movies for the entire family... we enjoyed it!

This title has:

Great messages
Great role models
See all 4 parent reviews

What's the Story?

In TWELVE, Ted (Erik Heger) is the dad of tween Kyle (Wyatt Ralff), a talented baseball player. Ted played for college and practices with Kyle, encouraging him to work his hardest and do his best. A move to a new town requires Kyle to try out for Oakwood, the local team. Even though he's clearly one of the best on the field, he's cut from Oakwood's A team. The Oakwood coach (Jeremy Holm) has given his spot to a lesser player because he's done business with that kid's dad. Ted encourages Kyle to find a way to use his sadness and disappointment to fuel his resolve to make himself an even better player. Kyle practices day and night, enlisting his older brother Xavier (Liam Obergfoll), a talented high school senior and star pitcher, to practice with him. Kyle makes a different team and vows to get them to the Little League World Series. Naturally, the deciding matchup is against Oakwood, and vindication is sweet.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (4):
Kids say (1):

This film is nicely done as it invites the audience to come along on Kyle's ride to baseball expertise. Young baseball fans and Little League lovers will be impressed by the effort Kyle makes as he improves all aspects of his well-rounded game. This is a family movie in the sense that Ted proves to be a supportive, encouraging, and decent father who gives his kids his very best, helping them improve their baseball skills but also their life skills, especially when it comes to picking themselves up and dusting themselves off after setbacks.

Twelve takes such pains to demonstrate what doing the right thing looks like that it seems odd when Ted cheats a little to make Kyle eligible for another team. They don't live in Brighton, so Ted rents a small apartment to allow Kyle to qualify. That feels like as much of a cheat as the Oakwood coach's giving a spot to a business associate's kid instead of to the deserving Kyle. If this were another, less cheery movie, that fact might come back to haunt and disqualify both the Brighton team and Kyle from playing. But the cheat is never mentioned again.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about what it means to commit to a goal. Is there anything you want so badly that you would work hard to achieve it?

  • Kyle's dad suggests Kyle use a seemingly devastating setback to drive him forward into potential success in Twelve. Do you think that was helpful advice? Why or why not?

  • How hard is it to deal with rejection or setbacks? What are some good ways to cope with such challenges?

Movie Details

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