A fairly harmless but ultimately lifeless feature-length afterschool special.
Comment
04/09/02
Stolen Summer (2002)
35
%
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work 
Reviews Counted:57
Fresh:20
Rotten:37
Average Rating:5/10
Consensus: Stolen Summer feels like a sugary after-school special stretched out to feature length.
Reviews for Stolen Summer
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04/07/02
Each character has depth and distinction; their interaction is a pleasure. And the story is one that has definite good-hearted purpose.
04/06/02
In an effort, I suspect, not to offend by appearing either too serious or too lighthearted, it offends by just being wishy-washy.
04/05/02
Made with no discernible craft and monstrously sanctimonious in dealing with childhood loss.
03/26/02
Never capitalizes on this concept and opts for the breezy and amateurish feel of an after school special on the subject of tolerance.
03/25/02
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03/24/02
A sweet story appropriate for the whole family, though it feels a bit like an after-school special.
03/22/02
An artificial exercise in personal childhood reverie whose squishy, generic personality shows evidence aplenty of corporate fingerprints.
03/22/02
It's like every bad idea that's ever gone into an after-school special compiled in one place, minus those daytime programs' slickness and sophistication (and who knew they even had any?).
03/22/02
Plays out with a dogged and eventually winning squareness that would make it the darling of many a kids-and-family-oriented cable channel.
03/22/02
Ultimately ... the movie is too heady for children, and too preachy for adults.
03/22/02
The best you can say about it is it's so uninspired, it barely gives one pause when considering some of the other dreck out there right now.
03/22/02
Watching Stolen Summer makes one question the entire Project Greenlight process, starting with the notion that anyone off the street is fit to write and direct a motion picture if only they want it badly enough.
03/22/02
Top CriticJones ... makes a great impression as the writer-director of this little $1.8 million charmer, which may not be cutting-edge indie filmmaking but has a huge heart.
03/22/02
Begins promisingly with some nicely observed bits of comedy before drifting permanently into the kind of heavier message mode that would have made for the ideal after-school special.
03/22/02
Top CriticA delightful surprise because despite all the backstage drama, this is a movie that tells stories that work -- is charming, is moving, is funny and looks professional.
03/22/02
Top CriticIt has the wide, winsome, don't-hurt-me eyes of a Walter Keane painting. Unfortunately, though, it isn't very good.
03/21/02
Well-meaning but inert.
03/21/02
Top CriticIt's earnest, if weighed down by drippy sentiments.
03/21/02
Latest News for Stolen Summer
September 19, 2005:
Fox Demands to See Farrellys "Hall Pass"
Pete Jones' spec script for the comedy "Hall Pass" has been picked up by Fox, and the moviemakers are looking to hand it over to professional yuksters Peter &... More...
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