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My full review is at Looking Closer.

Gerri Pare (Catholic News Service) says, "The story never slumps as the viewer is continually called upon to size up who is credible and who seems to be altering the facts. Jarecki also manages not to demonize anyone while at the same time never making light of the serious and repellant nature of the crimes. The result is a troubling, fascinating film that certainly points to the frailty of the human condition."

Jerry Langford (Movieguide) calls it "an artful approach to a genuine American tragedy. It is, therefore, an unpleasant and uninterrupted documentation of sin and its tragic effect on the Friedman family and the community. Though this movie deals with graphic subject matter, it intriguingly sheds the light of truth on tough and rarely discussed issues."

The rave reviews coming in from mainstream critics can be found here.

Lost in a troubled past and a criminal present, Stevie is drawn to Christian role models

Stephen Fielding is what he appears to be: crude, rude, rough-edged, damaged, and in need of a good cleaning up in every way. His past is a laundry list of misbehavior, and he admits that many of his most wicked achievements have gone undiscovered. Anyone with a nose for scandal could have dug up plenty on this guy.

But documentarian Steve James is too conscientious, too caring. Moreover, he walks past any opportunity to exploit his subject for moviemaking thrills. This is not "reality TV" as we've come to know it. James finds art in the human experience. And, in this viewer's opinion, he has crafted one of the great works of documentary art out of the life of a serious loser. It culminates with one of the great gospel songs of the last decade, and it earns the privilege.

In a skim-the-surface summary, Stevie is an account of how a child, abandoned by his parents, raped and abused in foster homes, became a wrathful and dangerous criminal. But underneath it is a lament for a brother, a friend, whose heart was torn to shreds by the cruelty and neglect of others. Stevie's story is a testament to the power of a good role model in the life of an impressionable young man. And it bears witness to the fact that there are glimmers of hope and opportunities for redemption in even the most damaged hearts.

Ten years before this project began, Steve James came into the life of young Stephen Fielding through the Big Brother program. That small step of compassion and goodwill formed a bond between them that would come to haunt James as he moved on in the mid-'80s and lost contact with Fielding. The film picks up with his return to see what a decade has done in the life of this young lost soul. He takes us to Pomona, Illinois, where he apologetically reenters the young man's life.

The crisis at the heart of the picture takes place between James's first return to Stevie's life in 1995 and his second return in 1997. During that gap, Stevie is charged with molesting an 8-year-old girl.

What follows is a journey through the battle-scarred landscape of Stevie's life on a path that leads to a courtroom and a judgment. We meet the mother who abused him and abandoned him. We meet his sister Brenda, a survivor trying to cultivate a healthier family of her own. Stevie's "friends," a group of Aryan thugs, supply him with a weapon and some troubling advice. The mother of Stevie's victim rages at the camera about what Stevie did to her daughter.

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September (Web-only) 2003, Vol. 47