Hello and welcome to my Just A Dream Filmography Page. Please sign my guest book below if you have any thing to say about this movie and Jeremy Sumpter's roll. Danny Glover directs this Showtime original movie about a young boy's coming of age during one memorable summer in the 1960s when a film crew visits his sleepy Nevada town. Twelve-year-old Henry Sturbuck (Jeremy Sumpter) is a shy and sheltered boy due to a strict upbringing at the hands of his doctor father (Robby Benson) and housewife mother (Ally Sheedy). But all that changes when Henry lands his first summer job at the local saloon, meeting and befriending people from all walks of life--most particularly, J.M. Hoagland (Carl Lumbly), an African American mechanic obsessed with movies and Marilyn Monroe. When Henry learns that Marilyn will be in town shooting a film called THE MISFITS, he attempts to arrange J.M.'s meeting with the starlet but instead triggers a series of events that result in tragedy and a loss of his childhood innocence.

We all have one childhood summer we can never forget during which our friendships are tested and lives are changed forever. Set in 1960 in a dusty Dayton, Nevada, JUST A DREAM, is the poignant story of a 12-year-old boy, Henry Sturbuck (JEREMY SUMPTER), and his unlikely friendship with the town mechanic, J.M. (CARL LUMBLY). Raised by the conservative Dr. and Mrs. Maureen Sturbuck (ROBBY BENSON and ALLY SHEEDY), young Henry looks at the world with wonderfully innocent eyes, a perception that is tested by events which begin when Dr. Sturbuck’s car breaks down on the way to Henry’s first summer job.

J.M. Hoagland, the town’s mechanic and only African American, picks up Henry and his father. Curious yet shy, Henry’s observant nature is fascinated by J.M. and the torn picture of Marilyn Monroe stuck on J.M.’s dashboard. Having never been to a movie, Henry doesn’t know who she is, only that she is beautiful. He questions J.M. about her, thinking she is J.M.’s girlfriend, but is cut off by his father’s pompous preaching on the evils of temptation. The doctor’s sermon falls on uninterested ears, however, as Henry’s non-judgmental nature warms a smile on J.M.’s face and in his heart.

At the saloon where he works, Henry meets the feisty owner Cindy (AMY MADIGAN), the cryptic Native American bartender, Cecil Running Bear (RODNEY A. GRANT), and Lynette (JULIE-ANN LIECHTY), the flouncey barmaid . For Henry, the Crest Saloon is better than the circus. Cindy tries to teach Henry the need for responsibility and hard work. From Cecil, he learns some new and interesting words, and J.M. introduces him to the world of imagination. Lynette’s lazy ways and skewed view of the world are fascinating to Henry, and luckily, J.M. is there to lend some down-home wisdom.

One day, J.M. talks to Henry about the wonders of the drive-in movie theater. Henry, feeling his newfound maturity, convinces his fearful, conservative mother to allow him to go to the drive-in with his friend J.M. At the drive-in, Henry is awakened to the true possibility of dreams that reach far beyond his tiny hometown. He learns that J.M., like most men of the age, dreams of knowing Marilyn Monroe. In the stillness of the night and with a strong sense of camaraderie, Henry tells J.M. about the brother he nearly had, but went direct to God from the hospital. It’s a man-to-man talk that reveals a great deal about Henry and his family.

J.M. and Henry’s friendship grows as they explore important things like driving and being your own man. One day, a group of Hollywood types arrive at the bar to scout locations for their movie “The Misfits.” Henry is amazed to learn that it will star Clark Gable and Marilyn Monroe. The town buzzes with the frenetic activity of a movie production and nearly all of its inhabitants are caught up in the whirlwind: Lynette is an extra and Dr. Sturbuck signs on, against his wife’s wishes, as the movie company’s doctor. Henry single-mindedly sets out to arrange a meeting between J.M. and Marilyn. The consequences of Henry’s romantic dream will change many lives, not the least of which is his own.