Stolen Summer

This movie was a wonderful movie until the last ten minutes when it falls completely flat on its face. The movie examines the unique and heartfelt friendship between the young son of an angry Irish Catholic and the young son of a Jewish Rabbi. Not only are the characters deeply explored, their differing faiths are thoughtfully examined throughout the film. It's a shame that the "powers that be" had to fold in the last ten minutes and give viewers bogus wishy-washy so-called theology that proves moviemakers are still afraid of moral absolutes. What a shame. Bonnie Hunt was so convincing as the dutiful wife and loving mother I wanted to adopt her. Kevin Pollak was incredible as the agonized father living with terminal illness.

I thought Stolen Summer was competently done. The director, Pete Jones, was blessed with great performances from well known performers like Bonnie Hunt, Aidan Quinn, Kevin Pollak, and Brian Dennehy. The film explores the differences between Catholicism and Judaism seen through the eyes of a child. The child protagonist takes on the challenge of making sure a Jewish child goes to heaven. The story is set on the South Side of Chicago in the mid-70's and since I grew up in roughly that time I enjoyed the talk about the White Sox of that era. The authenticity overall is accurate, but the film lacks a spark. Watching an 8-year-old try to figure out some of the intricacies of life is a great idea for a story. I just think that the plot lacked any real surprises.

I don't think I'm slanted because much of the film was made in my hometown... and the writer-director is the youngest son of a longtime friend. But I thought I'd better establish those facts up front.

If you want to capture the true flavor of the south side of Chicago in the '70s, this movie does it. From the scenes in and around Holy Cross church in Deerfield, to the beautiful Jewish temple on the south side, to the 76th Street beach, to scenes in and around Chicago bungalows, even under the L tracks, this film has it. I grew up on a block on the south side where we were the only family that was not Irish-Catholic. This film depicts the values and relationships of those types of families very well.

Will anyone get a Golden Globe or an Academy Award from "Stolen Summer"? Probably not. But if you want to spend a couple of hours enjoying a good movie with a real message--go see "Stolen Summer". If you're a Chicagoan and want to see a slice of home... so much the better.

STOLEN SUMMER (2002) *** Aidan Quinn, Bonnie Hunt, Kevin Pollak, Adi Stein, Mike Weinberg, Eddie Kaye Thomas, Brian Dennehy. Ben Affleck and Matt Damon's `Project Greenlight' winner Pete Jones springboards into the cinema with a sweet-mannered drama about two young boys (newcomers Stein and Weinberg) - one Irish Catholic the other Jewish - in Chicago circa 1976 - asking some tough questions about religion, theology and faith, all arguably open to debate but handled adequately thanks to a talented ensemble despite the rookie filmmaker's visually stunted foresight. Not bad but not great either still an admirable attempt to showcase the independent spirit nonetheless.

Having finally seen `Stolen Summer' I was more surprised than anyone to find the film extremely fetching. I thought it was well made and well acted. It was written and directed by a total novice, Pete Jones, who won a contest- as silly as that sounds. There are scenes that can be called schmaltzy but they seem to fit in with the mood of the picture and feel deserved; they're not simply tacked on as emotional buttons like in lesser screenplays. I hate watching kids in movies because they usually go hand and hand with loud noises and special effects. However, this screenplay gives these kids some heavy-duty subject matter to explore and their performances are intriguing. One might complain the film doesn't have any visual flair or creative camera angles and such. I think the film captures the austere sluggishness of the 1970's rather well.

After reading the external reviews for this movie I had to write a comment. One would think all the nation's critics united against this film. One reviewer said… `There are probably at least nine people who will sit all the way through the well-meaning but inert `Stolen Summer'. What's that mean? Did the guy watch twenty minutes of it and split? Are professional critics allowed to do that? I find that incredibly aggravating. I think all people involved in the film business are eventually driven to this kind of cynicism and contempt. I myself was rather turned off watching `Project Greenlight' on HBO. I realize making movies is an expensive enterprise but there's got to be a better way next time than what Jones went through. They had his you-know-what's in a vice the entire time and treated him like he was just touring Universal Studios for the day. I guess Hollywood is finally letting us in on their secret…that any schmuck off the street can make a movie because in the end it's the executives who really make all the decisions. The director might as well devote his time to the catering concerns.