Stolen Summer - Der letzte Sommer

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.

Despite what you may have seen on project greenlight that would depict this film as a film that was not put together well and full of problems, it's not. This film is one of those rare films that invokes some feeling and those are always good in my book. Whether you have or haven't heard of project greenlight, rent this film.

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.

This movie is beautifully written and simply acted, with wonderful performances from the child actors bringing it to life. It deals with subtle and complex issues of faith and love, parenting, friendship and flat-out chutzpah. The character of the Rabbi, played by Kevin Pollack, is a joy.

Stolen summer explores what faith means in action and who's got it right. Done from a child's questioning point of view it gets in to and away with some very tough and unresolvable issues. The kids treat the notion of getting in to heaven, whose God is right, what happens when you die- all as things you can actually ask about, and think about. The result is heartfelt and up to the end, wrenching in its honesty.

The final scene of the movie has absolutely no connection to the rest of story. Or rather, it seeks to tie up every single thread and gives you all those answers, revealing in the final two minutes the nature of prayer and the meaning of faith. Predictably it comes out as shallow and baffling. Where did the movie go? The actors are wrenched from any connection to any part of the story leading up to that moment and left doing a Hallmark card. The scene reeks of a desperate move to appeal to some research-specified demographic, the implausible act of an executive justifying his salary by telling the writer what the story needs.

Up until the Advent of Executives, this is a lovely movie, and a great story.

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.