Feeling guilt over losing contact with Stevie, a troubled boy he'd mentored years before, film director/narrator Steve James gets back in touch to check on Stevie's progress, and films what he discovers. Thus we enter the life of Stevie Fielding, a deeply wounded man who clearly has goodness in him, but lacks the foundation of early nurturing to conquer self-destructive impulses.

"Stevie" is a dark, complex portrayal of a young man whose earliest experience of neglect has created a deep vein of anger he struggles to control. In addition to ongoing family troubles, we learn Stevie has recently been accused of molesting a child. Director Steve James ("Hoop Dreams") knows his attempts to intervene at such a late stage are futile, but shows compassion in trying to understand how and why this man's life went drastically off course. The result is an intimate, compelling film. Stevie's sad, affecting journey is impossible to forget.