Stevie (2003)

A gripping, if not tragic, documentary about a person on the fringes of society. The title subject, Stevie, is a child born as a result of his mother's infidelity and with subtle mental issues. Abandoned early in life, Stevie bounces from foster home to foster home, all while being sexually, mentally, and physically abused along the way. A documentary film maker, Steve James, returns to rural southern Illinois to catch up on the boy he befriended as an advocate big brother 10 years prior, only to find Stevie has made 10 years worth of poor choices, criminal acts, and associated with the wrong crowd. The film unfolds through two and half hours to give the details of the consequence of Stevie's choices. The film maker wrestles with the moral dilemma of not judging Stevie, remaining his advocate big brother and at the same time using Stevie as a subject of his documentary film.

First of all, let me repeat what others have already stated...lots of of people are reared in the the same, and worse, abject conditions as Stevie...I grew up with people who had it just as bad if not worse.The trick is rising above all that...there's no sin in making a mistake...the sin comes in making the same mistake over and over again and expecting the world to to say "Poor little thing...what a life..."...We've all in one form or another had less than heavenly lives...The self-serving film-maker needs his ass kicked for preening in front of the cameras all but demanding our collective forgiveness...Sorry, I gave at the office.As to the film's subject, this kid had deep seated problems LONG before he decided to molest an 8 year old girl...and for God's sake, let's not mention the hell that angel will suffer for years to come.Yes, child abuse is a self-fulfilling cycle...that far too often forgets the little ones who suffer in silence.I consider myself a political progressive...well-educated and sickened by the horror stories about the "poor Stevies" of the world who are pitied...I'll save my prayers, thoughts and energies for their victims...Let's hope that becomes the case for more people.

This film is about a kid named Stevie from rural southern Illinois who was abused, neglected, and bounced around between various homes as a child. As an adult, he acts as we might predict: he is unstable, has a skewed moral compass, is child-like, and commits serious crimes. The filmmaker was a mentor to Stevie while at college and returns to catch up with him years later. He finds out that Stevie has been indicted with a serious crime and faces a long prison sentence. He uses this film as a way to investigate the root causes of Stevie's current behavior and to alleviate some guilt about not 'being there' for Stevie - after college, he moved to Chicago and didn't have contact with Stevie for many years. This film is a discussion-starter and brings up many questions about how children are raised and how a child's upbringing will affect his/her life. The editing job is mediocre and I think the film starts to get long-winded and boring toward the middle. Also, I can't help but feel that the director's somewhat warped, voyeuristic vision of what the film is or what it will do is ethically questionable. However, the film is honest and straight-forward and will elicit good discussion afterwards, even if you do end up pretty depressed. 6 out of 10

My heart goes out to Stevie and this documentary is a testament to the power of the people who raise children to forever shape that child's life. Stevie's mother should have been punished, not him, for ruining his life. What a tragedy. I hope he survives prison and goes on to get joy from life. He deserves joy. This documentary filmmaker is so so good.I also love Hoop Dreams which is another one of my favorites from this filmmaker. And making a documentary is a very special type of skill. Please, if the filmmakers are reading this, do a sequel and let us find out what happens when Stevie is back in the world after prison. And what happened to his then-girlfriend? A fascinating saga well told.Thank you for making this film.