Stevie

While in rural southern Illinois in 1995, Chicago filmmaker Steve James (Hoop Dreams) contacted the abused, rejected kid he’d been a Big Brother to ten years earlier, Stevie Fielding. This remarkable documentary charts the renewal of their friendship, explores Stevie’s past, and attempts to come to terms with him as an adult — a more difficult task after he’s charged with sexually molesting a little girl. Taking nothing and no one for granted, including himself, James looks at his subject with admirable honesty, and the tragic tale that emerges is full of powerful lessons and impenetrable mysteries. In the process, we get to know something about the people closest to Stevie — his relatives and fiancee and some of the people in his community — as well as the abused girl’s mother. 140 min. (JR) Read more