Are ‘mentally disabled’ people capable of being good parents? Are ‘mentally disabled’ people intelligent enough to cater for all the needs and wants of a child? These are two of the questions that ‘I am Sam’ asks and attempts to answer.
Sam is a ‘mentally disabled’ adult – he has the IQ of a seven year old. A homeless woman, impregnated by Sam, disappears after giving birth to the child, leaving the helpless babe in the arms of Sam. Sam, with the help of his ‘mentally disabled’ friends and a reclusive neighbour begins to look after the child.
Sam, who works in a local Starbucks coffee parlour, earns enough to support and feed the child (who he names Lucy Diamond – for some reason many ‘mentally disabled’ or autistic people find comfort with Beatles songs; Sam is no exception as he loves the Beatles).
Initially everything is fine as Sam’s mental abilities are above Lucy’s abilities; however as time goes by and Lucy begins to read and write and her knowledge expands, Lucy begins to be held back as she does not want to hurt her father by being more intelligent. Additionally, as
she interacts with more and more children, she begins to realize that her father is different – she does love him but is embarrassed and often saddened by the reaction of other children to her father – he essentially becomes the laughing stock of the children.
Sam is wrongfully arrested for trying to solicit a hooker; he is let go without charges being pressed but he has been bought to the attention of a social worker. The social worker witnesses a ‘tantrum’ by Lucy; this combined with the fact that Sam is considered ‘mentally’ incapable of looking after a child leads to Lucy being placed in a foster home while a hearing is organized to ascertain if Sam is fit to raise a child.
Sam is advised to seek legal help and finds a high-powered lawyer played by Michelle Pfeiffer. Initially the lawyer doesn’t want anything to do with Sam, but to show compassion in front of her peer group she agrees to take the case for free (there is no way Sam could afford to pay her).
She has many problems herself – she is a compulsive obsessive; she isn’t a particularly good parent herself and she is totally disorganized. Perhaps she isn’t the best choice to defend Sam.
What follows is a heart-wrenching story that not only teaches us about the compassion and patience of Sam but also teaches the lawyer how to deal with life and children. The story cleverly poses both sides of the argument, being objective in the way in which it deals with the case; we see the difficult choice that the courts must make and the reasoning behind it. We also see an amazingly evocative and touching story that teaches us that somehow love is the most important part of being a parent. We realize that we all have our own problems when parenting and that the fact that a child may be mentally more advanced than a parent doesn’t mean that the parent is unfit.
Interspersed throughout the story is the music of the Beatles – this is somehow apt as the songs and words of the Beatles somehow parallel the story. For this reason alone I would say it is worth buying the soundtrack.
The acting is superlative; Sean Penn perhaps gives us the best performance of his career and one that earns him an Oscar nomination. His portrayal of Sam shows us a combination of frustration and anger combined with a deep passion and love that transcends his inadequacies (or supposed inadequacies); his portrayal is simply perfect.
Michelle Pfeiffer is also very good in her role; she somehow portrays the hectic life very well, somehow keeping her mind together as her life seemingly is falling apart. We see compassion emerge as the movie moves towards its climax.
It should also be noted that there are several ‘real’ performances from Sam’s friends – these friends are real ‘mentally handicapped’ actors whose performances are excellent and show us the compassion and love that these people have.
One thing I gained from the movie was an appreciation that there really shouldn’t be any differentiation between ‘them’ and ‘us’! Society has placed labels on each of us and we need to break away from this and realize that people are just people. We each have our own inadequacies that do not have labels!
To summarize this I would say that this is a ‘weepy’ movie – this isn’t only for women, I myself found a tear in my eyes as I watched the movie. It is a movie that makes you think; not only about the plight of others but also about yourself. For this reason this makes the movie one of my favourites!
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Production Year: 1983 - Drama - Director: Jerry London - Original Language: English - Classification: Parental Guidance - Starring: John Gielgud, Raf Vallone, Christopher Plummer, Gregory Peck
Production Year: 2004 - Drama - Director: Nick Cassavetes - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over, 12 years and over - Starring: Rachel McAdams, Ryan Gosling, Gena Rowlands
Production Year: 1998 - Drama - Director: Martin Brest - Original Language: English - Classification: 12 years and over - Starring: Brad Pitt, Anthony Hopkins, Marcia Gay Harden, Jake Weber, Claire Forlani, Jeffrey Tambor
I saw this on the flight back from the US (Sat night - I'm still jetlagged) and wept almost from start to finish. The acting was just superb all around - I'm glad I saw this film. Great review! Cheers, Kate
MorganForever 01.07.2002 17:39
Well written, detailed and wonderful op! I look forward to seeing this movie now! Morgan XxXxX
kleft 30.06.2002 21:25
Great review. I wasn't sure if I should go and see, but now I will. Raf :)
Sean Penn and Michelle Pheiffer give career-defining performances in this humorous and ... more
heartwarming story about a mentally challenged father who enlists the aid of a high-powered attorney to help him regain custody of his daughter.An all-star supportin...
![I Am Sam [DVD] [2002]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/78519585.jpg "I Am Sam [DVD] [2002]")
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