Stolen Summer (2002)
Pete, an eight-year-old Catholic boy growing up in the suburbs of Chicago in the mid-1970s, attends Catholic school, where as classes let out for the summer, he's admonished by a nun to follow the path of the Lord, and not that of the Devil. Perhaps taking this message a bit too seriously, Pete decides it's his goal for the summer to help someone get into heaven - by trying to convert a Jew to Catholicism.
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Reviews
To me, this movie is perfection.
That was an excellent one.
Good , But It Is Overrated By Some
The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.
I found this movie very moving and well worth watching. Incredibly well executed by a first time director. Don't miss it!
I thought that this movie was wonderful. Sure, you can tell that there wasn't a huge budget but it got it's point across. I thought that it's story line was not only great but believable. I think that it is a movie that everyone should watch. It will show you that people are people no matter what religion. Maybe if everyone saw it, there wouldn't be so much hate in this country. Pete's lesson is a great one for us all to learn.
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 was really behind Pete Jones and stood up for him in the Project Greenlight forums for a while. Even when people were jabbing at him and his mealy mouthed, whiny nature on the PGL HBO series. I stood up for his decisions and backed him up.To be quite honest. I thought the story behind this movie was really very small and boring. Executed well, this story would still be a made for cable, late night fare at it's best. I'm surprised that there weren't better stories to choose from when they picked the winner out of 7000 scripts. Maybe it's because they're allowing peers to judge the scripts and those peers are just as green as Pete, because they're just that, peers. On another note, Pete is not a very good director. The scenes that I have seen from this years losers of the PGL 2 contest, are better than Pete's directing of his full feature film.Sorry Pete, I hope you do find more work as a director and your abilities grow.