Backstreet Dreams

I watched this movie in 1992 on video.It is quite good drama with a strong and engaging story of a dysfunctional family where mother is a *,father a local gang thug and son is autistic.Never heard of the lead actor Jason O'Malley before and it seems he didn't do awful a lot after this. Nevertheless, its a good achievement by an unknown guy to write and produce and head the cast of such a movie.I have always been a fan of "street story" films and this is one of the better I have seen. 8 out of 10

If you're in the mood for a ordinary 1980s romance-drama, then this movie will probably fit the ticket. Set in the rough streets of a working-class immigrant neighborhood in Hoboken, New Jersey, it follows the story of Dean Costello and his family. Dean is a small-time hood who works as the muscle for a local gambling kingpin, spending his nights beating up indebted gamblers with his partner Manny. He and his wife are also struggling to raise their young autistic son, Shane, and they finally take him to a New York doctor for tests. The doctor says there's nothing they can do for Shane, but a pretty and idealistic doctoral student and researcher named Stevie believes differently. Stevie convinces Dean's wife to let her do home visits with Shane, but after a month, the wife becomes resentful and tells Stevie to go back across the river for good. But not long afterward, Dean discovers his wife in bed with his rival, and when he kicks her out, she leaves him with Shane. Dean persuades Stevie to come back and work with Shane, and the three of them begin a whole new life. Together Dean and Stevie make progress with Shane, and Dean quickly realizes that he has to make a choice: Continue with his increasingly violent and dangerous work on the wrong side of the law, or get a real job and try to provide a stable life for Shane. This is your standard drama with some romance, some violent action, and the requisite suspenseful and tearful moments, but it's unique in how it looks at the trials of raising an autistic child. Not an overlooked Oscar contender, but if you come across it on a Sunday afternoon, don't change the channel.

This was made when Brooke Shields' cinema career was at its lowest point. Following the box office flop of Sahara (1983), big studios were avoiding her like the plague. Outside of cheap TV productions, the only instance she could get an acting job was in Brenda Starr and even that had been possible only because an Arab multi-millionaire fan of her had volunteered to invest in the movie if she was cast in the lead role. As (un)luck would have it, Brenda Starr would be locked up in some legal tangles after its production and remain unreleased in the US for years to come. So when she was approached to co-star in this semi-indie production by an unknown filmmaker, she must have gladly embraced it. Backstreet Strays, as the movie was known in its production stage, was intended as a starring vehicle by an aspiring former film student named Jason O'Malley, who wrote, co-produced and starred, to have himself burst into the movie scene. It was shot partially in LA and partially in NJ (esp. Shields' scenes) in May-June 1989. The movie isn't really bad at all. O'Malley plays a street thug who has an autistic son and Brooke Shields plays an idealist student who volunteers to help the kid. Naturally, a romance blossoms, but the guy's past doesn't let him go his own way too easily, so there is some action as well. The acting is decent (perhaps I should say the acting looks decent as I watched this in a Turkish dubbed version and cannot vouch for actual dialog performances). The story is very predictable, but so what? I especially liked the parts where the father was trying to interact with his son. Did the movie kick off O'Malley's career and help Shields' career to bounce back? No. After an apparently very limited North American theatrical release in 1990, it went to video the next year and was soon forgotten. Interestingly, the movie also seems to have been theatrically released in Italy, but that was probably due the presence of Anthony Franciosa in the cast. The movie remains unreleased on DVD as of yet and it is too bad that, outside of the undistinguished posters, only one rather bland looking photo still with Brooke Shields (embraced by O'Malley) circulate on the web. Actually, there are some very nice scenes with her throughout the movie. A cosy one where she sits with the kid among neighbors singing, for instance. And a night scene with O'Malley when they have their first night out by a pool. Those are the instances which Brooke fans should check.

This was made when Brooke Shields' cinema career was at its lowest point. Following the box office flop of Sahara (1983), big studios were avoiding her like the plague. Outside of cheap TV productions, the only instance she could get an acting job was in Brenda Starr and even that had been possible only because an Arab multi-millionaire fan of her had volunteered to invest in the movie if she was cast in the lead role. As (un)luck would have it, Brenda Starr would be locked up in some legal tangles after its production and remain unreleased in the US for years to come. So when she was approached to co-star in this semi-indie production by an unknown filmmaker, she must have gladly embraced it. Backstreet Strays, as the movie was known in its production stage, was intended as a starring vehicle by an aspiring former film student named Jason O'Malley, who wrote, co-produced and starred, to have himself burst into the movie scene. It was shot partially in LA and partially in NJ (esp. Shields' scenes) in May-June 1989. The movie isn't really bad at all. O'Malley plays a street thug who has an autistic son and Brooke Shields plays an idealist student who volunteers to help the kid. Naturally, a romance blossoms, but the guy's past doesn't let him go his own way too easily, so there is some action as well. The acting is decent (perhaps I should say the acting looks decent as I watched this in a Turkish dubbed version and cannot vouch for actual dialog performances). The story is very predictable, but so what? I especially liked the parts where the father was trying to interact with his son. Did the movie kick off O'Malley's career and help Shields' career to bounce back? No. After an apparently very limited North American theatrical release in 1990, it went to video the next year and was soon forgotten. Interestingly, the movie also seems to have been theatrically released in Italy, but that was probably due the presence of Anthony Franciosa in the cast. The movie remains unreleased on DVD as of yet and it is too bad that, outside of the undistinguished posters, only one rather bland looking photo still with Brooke Shields (embraced by O'Malley) circulate on the web. Actually, there are some very nice scenes with her throughout the movie. A cosy one where she sits with the kid among neighbors singing, for instance. And a night scene with O'Malley when they have their first night out by a pool. Those are the instances which Brooke fans should check.

I watched this movie in 1992 on video.It is quite good drama with a strong and engaging story of a dysfunctional family where mother is a *,father a local gang thug and son is autistic.Never heard of the lead actor Jason O'Malley before and it seems he didn't do awful a lot after this. Nevertheless, its a good achievement by an unknown guy to write and produce and head the cast of such a movie.I have always been a fan of "street story" films and this is one of the better I have seen. 8 out of 10

If you're in the mood for a ordinary 1980s romance-drama, then this movie will probably fit the ticket. Set in the rough streets of a working-class immigrant neighborhood in Hoboken, New Jersey, it follows the story of Dean Costello and his family. Dean is a small-time hood who works as the muscle for a local gambling kingpin, spending his nights beating up indebted gamblers with his partner Manny. He and his wife are also struggling to raise their young autistic son, Shane, and they finally take him to a New York doctor for tests. The doctor says there's nothing they can do for Shane, but a pretty and idealistic doctoral student and researcher named Stevie believes differently. Stevie convinces Dean's wife to let her do home visits with Shane, but after a month, the wife becomes resentful and tells Stevie to go back across the river for good. But not long afterward, Dean discovers his wife in bed with his rival, and when he kicks her out, she leaves him with Shane. Dean persuades Stevie to come back and work with Shane, and the three of them begin a whole new life. Together Dean and Stevie make progress with Shane, and Dean quickly realizes that he has to make a choice: Continue with his increasingly violent and dangerous work on the wrong side of the law, or get a real job and try to provide a stable life for Shane. This is your standard drama with some romance, some violent action, and the requisite suspenseful and tearful moments, but it's unique in how it looks at the trials of raising an autistic child. Not an overlooked Oscar contender, but if you come across it on a Sunday afternoon, don't change the channel.