The storytelling device of the flashback gets an intense workout in this tragic coming of age drama.
Mark Harmon stars as washed-up baseball player Billy Wyatt, who is shocked when he receives news that his childhood sweetheart and friend Katie Chandler (
Jodie Foster) has committed suicide and left the disposal of her ashes to his judgment. Although Billy and Katie have not kept in touch through the years, he has always carried a torch for her, his first love. On his way home, Billy recalls his past associations with the free-spirited Katie: their first meeting, the time they made love, and conversations they had, mostly during summers at the New Jersey shore. Billy also remembers the adolescent mischief he got into with his best friend Alan Appleby (played by
Jonathan Silverman in the flashbacks,
Harold Ramis in the present-day), like when each of them ended up sleeping with other's prom date. Billy finally decides to cast Katie's ashes to the wind in the place where they were happiest, by the seashore. Stealing Home was reportedly based on the real-life experiences of its writers, former Second City troupe members and
WKRP in Cincinnati writers Steven Kampmann and Will Aldis. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide