Petty criminal Dean struggles to raise his autistic son alone, and his life appears to be going off-track until psychologist Stevie arrives to help them both.
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Title: Backstreet Dreams (1990)
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Cast
| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Brooke Shields | ... | Stevie | |
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Jason O'Malley | ... | Dean |
| Anthony Franciosa | ... | Angelo | |
| Burt Young | ... | Luca | |
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John Vizzi | ... | Shane |
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Joseph Vizzi | ... | Shane |
| Sherilyn Fenn | ... | Lucy | |
| Tony Fields | ... | Manny | |
| Nick Cassavetes | ... | Mikey | |
| Ray 'Boom Boom' Mancini | ... | Aldo | |
| Elias Koteas | ... | Wizard | |
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Meg Register | ... | Candy |
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Vinnie Curto | ... | Gus |
| Frank Collison | ... | Spider | |
| Michael Bofshever | ... | Dr. Sinclair | |
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Plot Summary
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Storyline
Backstreet Dreams is the story of a man, who has a disturbed child. He and his wife take their son to a clinic, where he is diagnosed by a talented psychologist (Stevie), as being autistic. After catching his unfaithful wife with another man, Dean tells Lucy to leave, and is faced with the task of raising Shane on his own. Stevie believes that she can improve Shane's condition, going back to Dean's apartment and later convincing him that he can provide a better world for his son. Angelo, who lives in the same apartment building and is like a father to Dean, urges on the relationship, sensing that Stevie is luring Dean away from backstreet dealings, and giving him courage to face life in a positive way. Together, they build a foundation for a better life outside of the violence and danger of the backstreets where they live. Written by Anonymous
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He wouldn't give up on his son. She wouldn't give up on him.Parents Guide:
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Written by Jan Lucas
Performed by Jan Lucas
Courtesy of Beat Street Productions, Inc.
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Soundtracks
Metal BladesWritten by Jan Lucas
Performed by Jan Lucas
Courtesy of Beat Street Productions, Inc.
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Details
Country:
USALanguage:
EnglishRelease Date:
24 August 1990 (Canada) See more »Also Known As:
Backstreet Strays See more »Edit
Box Office
Budget:
$20,000,000 (estimated)Company Credits
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This was made when Brooke Shields' cinema career was at its lowest point. Following the box office flop of Sahara (1983), big studios were avoiding her like the plague. Outside of cheap TV productions, the only instance she could get an acting job was in Brenda Starr and even that had been possible only because an Arab multi-millionaire fan of her had volunteered to invest in the movie if she was cast in the lead role. As (un)luck would have it, Brenda Starr would be locked up in some legal tangles after its production and remain unreleased in the US for years to come. So when she was approached to co-star in this semi-indie production by an unknown filmmaker, she must have gladly embraced it. Backstreet Strays, as the movie was known in its production stage, was intended as a starring vehicle by an aspiring former film student named Jason O'Malley, who wrote, co-produced and starred, to have himself burst into the movie scene. It was shot partially in LA and partially in NJ (esp. Shields' scenes) in May-June 1989.
The movie isn't really bad at all. O'Malley plays a street thug who has an autistic son and Brooke Shields plays an idealist student who volunteers to help the kid. Naturally, a romance blossoms, but the guy's past doesn't let him go his own way too easily, so there is some action as well. The acting is decent (perhaps I should say the acting looks decent as I watched this in a Turkish dubbed version and cannot vouch for actual dialog performances). The story is very predictable, but so what? I especially liked the parts where the father was trying to interact with his son.
Did the movie kick off O'Malley's career and help Shields' career to bounce back? No. After an apparently very limited North American theatrical release in 1990, it went to video the next year and was soon forgotten. Interestingly, the movie also seems to have been theatrically released in Italy, but that was probably due the presence of Anthony Franciosa in the cast. The movie remains unreleased on DVD as of yet and it is too bad that, outside of the undistinguished posters, only one rather bland looking photo still with Brooke Shields (embraced by O'Malley) circulate on the web. Actually, there are some very nice scenes with her throughout the movie. A cosy one where she sits with the kid among neighbors singing, for instance. And a night scene with O'Malley when they have their first night out by a pool. Those are the instances which Brooke fans should check.