CommentsXp
Best movie ever!
Philippa
All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.
Cheryl
A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.
bandw
In 1981 the director of this documentary, Steve James, volunteered with the Big Brothers Big Sisters organization to become a big brother to eleven year old Stevie Fielding. The Big Brothers Big Sisters program matches adult volunteers to serve as mentors for children ages six through eighteen. The children in the program are judged to be in need of support from a stable adult. Stevie Fielding clearly satisfies that criterion. Born out of wedlock, he never knew his father and his mother did not want him. His mother beat him and he made the rounds of foster homes where he was beaten and raped. In 1985 James left Stevie and the rural southern Illinois area where he lived and went to Chicago. In 1994 James returned to check in on Stevie and that is where this documentary begins, with Stevie now 23 years old. It is not surprising that Stevie has some serious emotional problems and is not doing all that well, having racked up multiple arrests in the intervening years. He does have some support from a stepsister and from a girlfriend. He has been accused of having molested an eight year old girl while babysitting her, resulting in court proceedings. Stevie's molestation case moving through the courts casts a cloud that hangs over the entire documentary until the final resolution.Lots of questions came up for me. How should a person like Stevie be understood and treated? Was he doomed by his past, or could there have been a different path for him? Would things have been different if Steve James had not left? Was Stevie's limited emotional and intellectual range due mainly to his background, or was it genetically encoded? How was it that these people granted James such intimate access to there lives?One of the interesting things about the movie is trying to figure out how Stevie sees the world. Nowhere is it mentioned that he has a classifiable psychiatric condition, such as Down Syndrome or schizophrenia, but he clearly has intellectual and emotional challenges. Stevie seems to have the maturity of a child. Although Stevie did not admit to any wrongdoing, I wonder if in fact he knew that he had done something seriously wrong by molesting the girl. I could not view Stevie as a pedophile in the sense that he necessarily had a compulsion to have sex with children. It's almost like his transgression just happened, maybe due to his childlike nature. But what should be done with a person like Stevie? Is jail really the answer? He refused a plea bargain that would have required him to seek psychiatric help. I doubt that Stevie will come out of jail (if indeed he survives the experience) with any chance of having a satisfying life, either for himself or those around him, not to mention his likely recidivism.A lot of the themes that surface in this documentary reminded me of those in Steinbeck's novella "Of Mice and Men," which deals with the close relationship between a ordinary man and a man with the mental development of a child. Themes addressed are: societal and personal obligations, loneliness, justice, understanding others.As this movie ground on to its sad end I found it to be one of the most depressing movies I have seen. Every fifteen minutes or so it became so painful to watch that I was tempted to give up on it, but I saw it through to the end.
Dianne
This is a very effective documentary about the film-maker's reunion with his "little brother" in the big brother program they partook of in the early 80's. The fact that the film-maker has close ties with the film's subject sets it apart from your usual documentary. Knowing that the filmmaker, Steve, wasn't aware of Stevie's many infractions before the reunion makes you realize that this was far from a predictable documentary. Even worse, is the crime that he commits during the two year break after Steve's first reunion. The film is unsettling as you see the many situations where Steve is trying to be a friend and at the same time, a removed observer. The resulting film shows that Steve succeeded in creating a healthy balance. Though Stevie's nature is, to me, your run-of-the-mill, criminal and the attention he receives, undeserved, it is interesting to see how families of criminals cope, or don't cope. This movie also shows the beauty that the developmentally disabled it features offer to the world---their scholastic intelligence is limited but their wisdom and love is far-reaching. I will say that Stevie, though hard-core in his criminal acts, was a thinking, feeling person and this is evidenced by the genuine tears he sheds a few times in this film. I am hopeful that when he comes out of prison in 2009, that he will be a valuable person in society----and that the chip on his shoulder will be forever gone.
mark blanton
"There but by the Grace of God go I". Stevie never had a chance...at least not at first with his birth mother. It all starts in the womb. He was never wanted. Except for his story as sad and tragic as it is Stevie would have been better off not to have made it out of the womb. Certainly the little girl he molested would be.The real tragedy is he did have a chance with the Hubers and his Big Brother Steve...both abandoned Stevie and knew it. You just can't trip in and out of children's lives and expect them to be "OK". Mrs. Hubers comment "well life goes on" was so trite. What she meant was HER life goes on. Stevies just stopped.....again.All Children, especially the Stevies, need a lifetime of commitment. Commitment is what transforms the promise into reality. IT is the words that speak boldly of your intentions. And the actions that speak louder than the words. It is the making of time when there is none. Coming through time after time after time. Year after year. Commitment is the stuff character is made of; the power to change the face of things. It is the daily triumph of integrity over skepticism.
Bettye Zoller
My heart goes out to Stevie and this documentary is a testament to the power of the people who raise children to forever shape that child's life. Stevie's mother should have been punished, not him, for ruining his life. What a tragedy. I hope he survives prison and goes on to get joy from life. He deserves joy. This documentary filmmaker is so so good.I also love Hoop Dreams which is another one of my favorites from this filmmaker. And making a documentary is a very special type of skill. Please, if the filmmakers are reading this, do a sequel and let us find out what happens when Stevie is back in the world after prison. And what happened to his then-girlfriend? A fascinating saga well told.Thank you for making this film.
