The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

It's a mild crowd pleaser for people who are exhausted by blockbusters.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.

faith. fear. a mission. religions as bricks for two boys. and the need of Heaven. a touching film about ordinaries realities. nothing new. nothing strange. only exercise of a new vision about old things. and new form of Don Quijote adventure. sure, it is not extraordinary. boring - in few parts -, common, just pink. instrument of ecumenism. story about innocence and world of adults. but not colors are important. but nuances. a friendship, an ideal, a ladder for conquer the Heaven, Brian Dennehy as Father Kelly, Aidan Quinn as fireman and father of eight children, full of frustration, the boys on beach and the confession of faith.a movie like many others. but different in few aspects. like every man. like every family. like every religion.

First of all, I am not Jewish. I am not Catholic. I am not from Chicago. That having been said, I have no personal prejudices concerning this movie. It's about a little Jewish boy who is very ill. His Catholic friend believes that Jews cannot go to Heaven and wants to help his friend achieve that goal. The way they go about it is a lot of fun. The Jewish boy has problems with his parents. The Catholic boy has problems with his father. I'll say no more. See it for yourself. I have watched this movie at least four times and have never tired of it. The story is funny, sad, angering and loving. It will never win any awards but you will thoroughly enjoy it if you have any heart at all.

I thought Stolen Summer was competently done. The director, Pete Jones, was blessed with great performances from well known performers like Bonnie Hunt, Aidan Quinn, Kevin Pollak, and Brian Dennehy. The film explores the differences between Catholicism and Judaism seen through the eyes of a child. The child protagonist takes on the challenge of making sure a Jewish child goes to heaven. The story is set on the South Side of Chicago in the mid-70's and since I grew up in roughly that time I enjoyed the talk about the White Sox of that era. The authenticity overall is accurate, but the film lacks a spark. Watching an 8-year-old try to figure out some of the intricacies of life is a great idea for a story. I just think that the plot lacked any real surprises.

It's definitely one of the best touching movie of 2001. Nowaday, making a good movie is very hard. There are lots of movies with sex, drugs, violence , etc.....but, this people are rarely making a movie like stolen summer.It's a 100% pure love movie. When new parents finish this movie, they think the movie touch them. Some of scenes in the movie are so fun & hit their heart.I can understand why so many parents would love this movie. Specially, when the kid finally died, their heart are in the edge of breaking. The most important thing from this movie is "do you or do you not believe in god?" or "Do you believe heaven?" These questions are nice to find out in this movie. I love this movie. I honesty recommend it to everybody. Do you have children ? 9/10