Steal Me (2005) - Movie Review

Opening in New York today after a successful run at a variety of film festivals, "Steal Me" is a little film about a kleptomaniac who wanders into a small town looking for a mother and acceptance, but who instead ends up in all kinds of trouble.

Written and directed by Melissa Painter, "Steal Me" is cute, mildly funny and sometimes touching, but its pace is slow and its acting amateurish. It definitely feels like the low-budget, independent film that it is, and it hurts what could have been an interesting story. There's nothing wrong with people trying to get their foot in the door, but I've seen plenty of low-budget movies that are much more effective than this one, and, given the acclaim that "Steal Me" has been receiving over the past few weeks, I was a little disappointed.

Danny Alexander makes a valiant effort as the lead, but his performance falls far short of inspiring. He has potential to do better, but here he is flat and not up to the standards of a lead. His supporting cast isn't much better, and by the time the movie had ended I hardly cared about any of them - nor had I ever been engaged by the story.

"Steal Me" is an interesting and unique drama, but a character drama without the performances to back it up is hardly inspiring.

Review by Erik Samdahl unless otherwise indicated.