All About Steve
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The Story
Mary (Sandra Bullock) is a crossword builder for the “Sacramento Herald” newspaper, and she’s known for her oddball personality. She talks way too much, and she’s obsessive about words, and she lives with her parents, and she wears these red boots all the time. In an effort to be more normal, she agrees to go on a blind date set up by her mom.
After one look at Steve (Bradley Cooper), she changes into some revealing clothing and jumps him in his car before they even pull away from the curb. Steve is all for that until Mary starts talking, and then he fakes a work emergency to get away from her.
Clueless, Mary is in love. She hits the road to follow Steve on his job as a TV news cameraman. He is terrified that she is stalking him, but the on-air reporter he works with (Thomas Haden Church) uses Mary to mess with Steve, telling her that Steve really loves her and wants her to stay no matter how much he tells her to go away.
So with the help of a couple of equally odd personalities (DJ Qualls and Katy Mixon), she follows the news team to a storm in Texas and then to a crisis in Colorado where some deaf children are trapped in an abandoned mine.
Content Issues
The early scene in which Mary jumps Steve in his SUV includes some significant sexual dialogue and touching (really) for a PG-13 comedy that is otherwise not about sex. Harsh language includes uses of God’s and Jesus’ names for swearing. The film also uses the vulnerability of deaf children as kind of a joke.
Worldview Talking Points
In spite of the fact that lots of lousy movies get made every year, very few pull a rating of less than 10 percent positive reviews from RottenTomatoes.com on opening day. “All About Steve” is currently at 5 percent. In spite of a likable cast, it’s safe to say its not a great film.
Teens attracted to the cast might still end up seeing it sooner or later. If they do, maybe a few of the following questions will provoke a helpful conversation about “Steve’s” worldview perspective.
- What did you like about “All About Steve”? What didn’t you like?
- Do you usually enjoy Sandra Bullock movies? What are some of your favorites?
- In the film, Mary mentions her religious background. Did you get the idea that she believed in God or tried to live by a set of religious beliefs? Why or why not?
- Mary believed that in order to be normal, she needed to date and have a boyfriend. Do you think people who have boyfriends or girlfriends are more normal than other people? Is it weird not to be dating someone after a certain age?
- Is it weird to have a good vocabulary or to be especially smart? Why or why not?
- Mary really is odd in some ways, but she also seems to be foolish—unwise—in other ways that she could change. What’s the difference between having a trait that is just a little different from the culture and being really foolish?
- What are some of the foolish choices that Mary makes during the story? [Parent: Emphasize that she demonstrates foolishness by talking too much, not noticing when she’s annoying people, throwing herself sexually at a man she doesn’t know, and stalking him across the country. She also falls in that hole.]
- What are some ways that wisdom could help Mary to have a more successful life? [Parent: Wisdom teaches us to use words carefully, to practice self-control with our tongues and bodies, and to guard our hearts.]
- The film’s message seems to be that we should resist pressure to “be normal” and find friendship and acceptance with people who are as normal (or not) as we are. Do you think that message agrees with what the Bible teaches? How so (or not)?
- In Colossians 3, Paul doesn’t tell us to accept ourselves as we are. He tells Christians to participate with God as He changes us to make us like Jesus. What are some of the ways we can trade our old identity for His new one? [Parent: We can make being like Jesus our goal in life; we can think about our future in eternity; we can say “no” to sin; we can put on an attitude of kindness and service to others, etc.]
- What are the three lousiest films you’ve seen in the last year or so? What are the three best? What are some of the biggest differences between good movies and lame ones?
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