STEAL ME is one of those little independent films that lacked the budget for advertising and got lost in the theaters until the DVD rolled out. Now it is available and is one of those happy choices for an evening's entertainment that is satisfyingly on more levels than just another coming of age story. Written and directed by Melissa Painter the film has the feeling of extemporaneous creation, so frank and un-pushed are the lines and the story: the fact that it is so beautifully set in the poetic atmosphere of Montana by an unnamed cinematographer takes the film into the realm of professional quality.
Jake (Danny Alexander) is a 16-year-old homeless kid, a street criminal who steals things for the high the experience provides, hopping trains to Montana to meet up with his irresponsible hooker mother whom he never finds. What Jake does encounter as he is stealing a car radio is Tucker (Hunter Parrish) who alters his outrage to feelings of pity for the homeless hungry Jake. Tucker takes him home - a barn and house and ranch and family look that is what Jake has always longer for - and Tucker's father (John Terry) and mother (Cara Seymour) and little sister Cindy (Chelsea Carlson) gradually absorb the mysterious stranger into their home. Jake is given a room in the barn, food, and companionship and eventually a job at the father's train yard company. Jake resists stealing things, encounters Grace (Toby Poser) the next door neighbor who is an unmarried mother and seduces Jake, and Jake meets Tucker's ideal girl Lily Rose (Paz de la Huerta) and encourages Tucker to enter into a physical romance. Tucker introduces Jake to his high school friends, young lads who are fascinated with Jake's knowledge of breaking into cars, hot-wiring autos, and explaining how homes are easy targets for theft. As the story rolls along Jake and Tucker and Lily Rose form a tender relationship, and we gradually discover that most women Jake meets find him not only lovable but also desirable. But Jake's past modus operandi begins to surface and his motives are questioned and in a few surprising turns things turn out against him. Jake is left to continue looking for the mother who has never really 'existed' for him.
Painter knows how to deliver her story with beautiful settings, fine interaction among the characters, and a keen sense on the meaning of family and its importance in becoming an adult. The scenes are at times fragmented with strange kaleidoscopic editing techniques, and unfortunately the dialog is very often inaudible: a qualified sound editor could have altered this critical error and mixed the soundtrack to diminish the music for the sake of hearing the words. But the final feeling of this little film is one of honesty in intention and in production and allows a rather unknown cast to demonstrate some fine ensemble acting. It is a film worth viewing. Grady Harp
Jake (Danny Alexander) is a 16-year-old homeless kid, a street criminal who steals things for the high the experience provides, hopping trains to Montana to meet up with his irresponsible hooker mother whom he never finds. What Jake does encounter as he is stealing a car radio is Tucker (Hunter Parrish) who alters his outrage to feelings of pity for the homeless hungry Jake. Tucker takes him home - a barn and house and ranch and family look that is what Jake has always longer for - and Tucker's father (John Terry) and mother (Cara Seymour) and little sister Cindy (Chelsea Carlson) gradually absorb the mysterious stranger into their home. Jake is given a room in the barn, food, and companionship and eventually a job at the father's train yard company. Jake resists stealing things, encounters Grace (Toby Poser) the next door neighbor who is an unmarried mother and seduces Jake, and Jake meets Tucker's ideal girl Lily Rose (Paz de la Huerta) and encourages Tucker to enter into a physical romance. Tucker introduces Jake to his high school friends, young lads who are fascinated with Jake's knowledge of breaking into cars, hot-wiring autos, and explaining how homes are easy targets for theft. As the story rolls along Jake and Tucker and Lily Rose form a tender relationship, and we gradually discover that most women Jake meets find him not only lovable but also desirable. But Jake's past modus operandi begins to surface and his motives are questioned and in a few surprising turns things turn out against him. Jake is left to continue looking for the mother who has never really 'existed' for him.
Painter knows how to deliver her story with beautiful settings, fine interaction among the characters, and a keen sense on the meaning of family and its importance in becoming an adult. The scenes are at times fragmented with strange kaleidoscopic editing techniques, and unfortunately the dialog is very often inaudible: a qualified sound editor could have altered this critical error and mixed the soundtrack to diminish the music for the sake of hearing the words. But the final feeling of this little film is one of honesty in intention and in production and allows a rather unknown cast to demonstrate some fine ensemble acting. It is a film worth viewing. Grady Harp