Main Cast: Brooke Shields, Jason O'Malley, Sherilyn Fenn, Tony Dean Fields, Burt Young
Release Year: 1990
Country: US
Run Time: 104 minutes
Plot
Not to be confused with the oft-filmed Fannie Hurst yarn Back Street, Backstreet Dreams is a contemporary drama of Humanity vs. the Streets. Jason O'Malley plays a New York hoodlum who doesn't trust his wife Sherilyn Fenn as far as he can throw her (and for good reason). The only person O'Malley truly cares for is his autistic son Shane, played by twin children Joseph and John Viezzi. Brooke Shields (who's better than you might think) enters the scene as a PhD candidate who hopes to get through to Shane. Now it is the unfaithful Fenn's turn to seethe with jealousy as Shields applies her "force holding" theory to Shane, she and O'Malley draw closer together. O'Malley is so taken by Shields' compassion that he severs his mob ties--but Big Boss Burt Young won't let him off so easy, and uses Shane as a "bargaining chip." Backstreet Dreams appears at times to be three films jumbled together; every time a story element starts rolling, it is exiled to the back burner in favor of another gratuitous subplot. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Anthony Franciosa - Angelo Carnivale; Nick Cassavetes - Mikey Acosta; Joe Pantoliano; Meg Register - Candy; John Viezzi - Shane Costello; Tony Lo Bianco - Angelo; Jim Boeke - Burt; Michael Bofshever - Dr. Sinclair; Carlos Cervantes - Jose M.; Frank Collison - Spider; Vincent Curto - Gus; Drummond Erskine - Policeman; Bob Giovanne - Paddy; Redmond Gleeson - Dempsey; Elias Koteas; Ray Mancini - Aldo; Albert Michel - Juan; Vincent Pastore - Fat Tony; Anthony Richards - Dean's Neighbor on Stoop; Anthony Russell - Sally; Teri Shields - Biker; Dan Tullis, Jr. - Tank; Ellis Williams - Slick Shot; Rupert Hitzig - Dean's Neighbor on Stoop; Michael Russo - Paco; Maria Celedonio - Maria M.; Robby Robinson - Robert
Credit
Michael Cutler - Casting, Jason O'Malley - Co-producer, Lance H. Robbins - Co-producer, Elisabeth A. Scott - Costume Designer, Rupert Hitzig - Director, B.J. Davis - Second Unit Director, Robert Gordon - Editor, Bill Conti - Composer (Music Score), George Costello - Production Designer, Stephen M. Katz - Cinematographer, Maria Rebman Caso - Set Designer, B.J. Davis - Stunts, Jason O'Malley - Screenwriter
Dean, a young hood, and his wife take their disturbed young son, Shane, to a clinic where the boy is diagnosed by Stevie, a psychologist. They discover that the boy is autistic. As the couple's marriage falls apart, Stevie believes she can help Shane as well as possibly help Dean break away from the backstreet dealings that he is living with.
