Stolen Summer

I just viewed Stolen Summer on DVD and this is a fine film for a first-time director. I am an avid movie watcher who likes everything from Kubrick to Kurosawa to Tarkovsky and it is easy to recognize that Pete Jones has incredible potential as a writer and filmmaker.

A touching story that was well acted, edited and paced. Even the child acting was fairly good. This was a very solid effort for a first-time feature on a tight budget.

Kevin Pollak is a very underrated actor.

Nice job all the way around! I hope we get to see more of Pete's stuff in the future.. it should be worth it.

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.

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 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.

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.