Review of Stevie (2003) by Andy F — 24 Jul 2004

[b]A documentary directed by[/b] Steve James.

Ah yes. The documentary. Over the last 2 or 3 years they have grown and grown and grown on me. Especially after seeing "Bowling For Columbine". Recently, after hearing that Steve James was releasing a new documentary, I immediately thought about the first documentary I ever saw. It was quite while ago. Tony Marshall mentioned this movie called "Hoop Dreams". He said it was like the best thing in history. When I saw it back then I was probably 13 or 14 years old, and I loved it. But after watching it again not too long ago I realized how great that documentary is. When we hear discussions by critics or just random people about the best documentaries of all time we never catch it mentioned, aside from Roger Ebert. I respected the movie a lot more. I respected the effort by James a lot more. And most of all I appreciated it a lot more. I urge everyone to see it.

So I was definitely surprised to hear that Steve James had a new documentary to be released. It's called "Stevie", and this time its central focus is partly on James himself. Around the mid '80s James became a part of the Big Brother foundation and became friends with Stevie Fielding, child who never had any friends. He was abandoned by his father before he could know him. He was with a mother who didn't want him, beating him daily. And he was sent to numerous foster homes and juvenile centers.

The story starts off when Stevie is 23 years old and hasn't seen Steve for 10 years.

The nearly 2 and a half hour documentary tells the frightening story of a confused boy who grows into a destructive and nearly unsaveable man. His Big Brother comes back into his life (Steve James) a decade later to reconcile. But can a man who has been denied and beaten and mistreated his entire life ever begin to be cured? It's as good as most documentaries I've seen, and James proves that he has beent he most underrated non-fiction filmmaker of the last 10 years. His effort on this project is endless and comes close to matching that of "Hoop Dreams".

"Stevie" is a masterpiece.

Not Rated - 2 hours, 20 minutes (review written on 5/8/2003).