Stevie (2002)

In 1995 Director Steve James (Hoop Dreams) returned to rural Southern Illinois to reconnect with Stevie Fielding, a troubled young boy he had been an 'Advocate Big Brother' to ten years earlier.

Director:

Steve James

Stars:

Steve James, Stephen Fielding, Tonya Gregory

4 wins & 6 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview:
Steve James	...	Himself
Stephen Fielding	...	Himself (as Stephen Dale Fielding)
Tonya Gregory	...	Herself
Bernice Hagler	...	Herself
Verna Hagler	...	Herself
Brenda Hickam	...	Herself
Doug Hickam	...	Himself
Judy James	...	Herself

Storyline

He began a film, a search, to discover not only what had happened to Stevie over the past ten years but to understand the forces that had shaped his entire life. Part way through the filming, Stevie is arrested and charged with a serious crime that tears his family apart. What was to be a modest profile turns into a intimate four and half year chronicle of Stevie, his broken family, the criminal justice system and the filmmaker himself, as they all struggle with what Stevie has done and who he has become.

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Genres:

Documentary

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language and descriptions of abuse

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

13 March 2003 (Netherlands)

Also Known As:

O Stevie

Filming Locations:

Chicago, Illinois, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$9,383 (USA) (28 March 2003)

Gross:

$97,044 (USA) (2 May 2003)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Kartemquin Films, SenArt Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

140 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Quotes

Stephen Fielding: [when his step-grandmother mentions Stevie's abusive biological mom] I don't have a mother, I never had one, and on the day she dies, I'm gonna go, and I'm gonna laugh at her!

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Soundtracks

"I Ain't Ever Satisfied"
Written by Steve Earle
Performed by Steve Earle
Courtesy of MCA Records

User Reviews

A complex, hard-hitting view into others' reality

According to sociologists, we are a product of our own culture. Naive about the true reality of others, many of us blithely make pronouncements about what people should or should not do to have a good life. Then a movie like "Stevie" comes along - a movie that shows a complex, rough-edged world in which there are no simple answers. To me, "Stevie" was kick-in-the-teeth reality - not voyeurism.

This movie reminded me of a number of other movies that give one a view into how others live... The "Bicycle Thief," "Chan is Missing," "The Harder They Come," "Milagro Beanfield War," "The Postman," "Secrets and Lies," and "Ping Pong," to name a few. I thought the director of "Stevie," the OTHER Steve, did an excellent job of showing people and their environment without trivializing them. I *cared* about the people in this film; I wanted them to love each other, work out their problems, and overcome their secrets and lies. Like my own real life, however, things don't always get tied up nicely in a pretty bow.

I think that "Stevie" is an excellent snap/slap of cold water for those of us who think we know it all. Life isn't simple, whether we're up to our necks in alligators or see ourselves as the alligator hunter.