Stolen Summer

Released 2002
Stars Aidan Quinn, Bonnie Hunt, Adi Stein, Kevin Pollak, Mike Weinberg, Brian Dennehy, Eddie Kay Thomas
Directed by Pete Jones
Cinematography by Peter Biagi
Reviewed April 15, 2003

This movie is much better than I expected. In fact, I enjoyed it as much as the HBO series Project Greenlight, which spawned it. I think Project Greenlight should be required viewing in all film schools, because it's an invaluable behind-the-scenes look at the process of shooting a movie. Best of all, it's very entertaining. The movie looked like it was going to be a disaster from the HBO series, but it actually comes together beautifully. It tells the story of Joe (Aidan Quinn) and Margaret (Bonnie Hunt) O'Malley, and two of their eight kids, Pete (Adi Stein) and Patrick (Eddie Kay Thomas). It opens with 8 year-old Pete deciding to go on a quest to help Jewish people get to Heaven, because he's been repeatedly told he's going to hell by his nun schoolteacher. His reasoning is some of the Catholic Saints were sainted because they converted Jews to Christianity, so that may be his ticket as well. Later he meets Rabbi Jacobsen (Kevin Pollak) and his son Danny (Mike Weinberg), and wacky hijinks ensue. No, wait--wrong movie. Actually Pete makes Danny the focus of his quest, which later gains significance due to an illness, but the plot isn't that important. It's certainly not the interesting part of the movie.

I've heard people criticize Stolen Summer for being an Afterschool Special, but it's much more than that. From watching Greenlight, I thought it would mostly involve Pete and Danny, and I was afraid the quest would dominate the movie. Although it's a central theme, there's a lot more going on than two 8 year-olds discussing religion. What makes it work is Joe's role as the good but flawed father and the subplot of Patrick trying to go to college. Joe is the blue-collar, gruff, mildly anti-Semitic but well-meaning father who earns just enough to support his enormous Catholic family, and he has several chips on his shoulder. He rules his family like a roaring lion and lays down the law, but his wife has her say as well.

The movie works, because Joe and Margaret are real people. In the scene where Joe declines Rabbi Jacobsen's offer for the college scholarship, Patrick implores his mother to help him. He's being offered a full college scholarship as a reward for his dad's bravery, but his dad refuses. Joe believes it's a publicity stunt for the rich Jewish families to give handouts to the poor Catholics, and he's far too proud to accept such a handout. The movie's intelligent enough to know there may be some truth to such situations, and, whether there really is any truth to it, there are certainly people who believe there is. Margaret declines to argue with Joe in that heated situation, because she would never defy him like that. It's obvious there's a scene coming later where it will be her turn to lay down the law, and it's done flawlessly. From listening to the DVD commentary, Bonnie insisted she underplay the scene despite Pete Jone's and Aidan's insistence to play it very angry. Fortunately, Bonnie got her way. The two actors in this scene are brilliant as Joe begins by declaring there's no way he's changing his mind, while inside he knows he's going to. He knows he's wrong, and he's been in this situation before where he was too proud to back down on his own but willing to do so when his wife insisted. As she quietly tells him how it's going to be, he slowly wilts into his chair and gives in without saying a word. It's an obligatory scene, but the actors and director do it so well, they end up doing something rare. They quietly film a moment of truth.

What about Pete's quest? Would 8 year-olds really talk about religion like this? It's such a naive and innocent quest, it's hard to look at it without being cynical, but it would make sense to kids that age. Since Pete goes to Catholic school and Danny's the son of a Rabbi, religion is a big theme in both of their lives. I know I was very religious at that age, and I would have been just like Pete. It's true that some of the dialogue is stagey and especially true the kids aren't the best actors, but they do a decent job. It's a shame they couldn't afford better child actors, because all of the adults are fantastic. Kevin Pollack turns in a somber, understated performance that's the perfect match to Aidan Quinn's bombastic Joe, and Bonnie Hunt brings more to her role than Pete Jones had envisioned.

My only significant criticism of the movie (I'm ignoring the "praying to Danny" line at the end) is a contrivance with the Rabbi Jacobsen character. Right from the beginning Pete tells him about his goal to help Jews get to Heaven, but the Rabbi never tells him that Jews believe in Heaven as well. He's a nice, understanding man who may fear the repercussions of "preaching" to a Gentile kid, but he wouldn't have let Pete hang around if he was afraid. Pete Jones should have addressed this, because the kids' storyline is weakened by not doing so. I was willing to overlook it, though, because I was charmed by the cast and enjoyed spending time with the characters. After the first screening at Sundance, it seemed the audience and everyone involved with Project Greenlight (Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Chris Moore) were underwhelmed so I didn't expect much. I'm happy to say I was pleasantly surprised, and the entire crew did a great job within their many constraints. All in All, Pete Jones and Miramax should be proud of Stolen Summer.

Reviewed by Bill Alward
April 15, 2003
Home