Film Overview

“Something For Stevie” is the heart-warming story of a 22-year-old down syndrome young man trying to make it in the work-a-day world. It opens with him having just graduated from the Curative Workshop as a Busboy, and his mother is taking him around to restaurants to try and get him a job. Everyone is turning him down because they are afraid that his appearance will “turn off” their customers. Even his bus driver is snappish with Stevie as he takes him to work.

Finally, a gruff-on-the-exterior, but soft-hearted Truck Stop Diner owner hires him. Things go badly from the start. Stevie is too anxious to please, and puts a customer off by removing his plate too early and causing the Trucker to spill coffee in his lap. Other customers are mean to Stevie, or play practical jokes on him, or insult him. But, Stevie, in his innocence smiles through it all, eventually winning the hearts of the hardened Truckers.

As others are mean to Stevie, the Truckers come to his defense. Stevie is in and out of hot water with his boss, the Diner Owner, but the waitresses come to his defense. Stevie eventually meets a down syndrome 22-year-old young lady to whom he takes an immediate liking, and they establish a friendship. Their families make friends and “Rosy’s” parents take them on a picnic and to church. He hears a sermon about forgiving one’s tormentors.

Next, Stevie must work late one night, and gets lost heading for his regular bus stop. He runs into the 34th Street gang, who beat him up for his bus fare. Now, lost and wandering the darkened streets calling out for his “Momma”, he is accosted by a wino, who steals his shoes. He spends the night sleeping in the park….

He begs the Owner and his mother to work again that night because, he pleads, he has something he HAS to do, but they turn him down. Unthwarted, he sneaks out of his parents’ apartment, and returns to the scene of the previous night’s crime with the sermon on his mind….

Next, Stevie proposes to Rosy, but the fathers are dead-set against the union. So, Stevie and Rosy plot to run away together. The next day, Stevie doesn’t show up for work, and everybody is worried sick. Several days go by with no response from Stevie’s family. Finally, the Social Worker shows up to report that Stevie has had a heart attack and is in the Mayo Clinic. All of his “friends” at the Diner (Truckers and employees) are grief-stricken. And, they are heart-sick over the fact that the bill for Stevie’s hospitalization bill is enormous, and his family is dirt-poor.

He returns to work on Thanksgiving to a big welcoming back celebration. Stevie is anxious to get back to his duties, but the owner insists on buying him and his mother breakfast. At the corner table, it is littered with dirty dishes. The Owner asks him to clear the table. As Stevie does so, he discovers piles of envelops with money inside….

Stevie and Rosy want to get married, but the parents, the Marriage License Bureau, the Church and the Social Worker are all against the union….