Sam Dawson (Sean Penn) has a mental age of 7 and he shows some autistic tendencies. He works at a Starbucks as a waiter and is obsessed by keeping things in order and everyone he serves he tells them, "That's an excellent choice." He has managed to get a young homeless girl pregnant and the film starts with him rushing from the coffee shop to the hospital to watch the birth of his baby daughter. As soon as his baby girl is put in his arms you can see he has bonded with her and he names her Lucy Diamond Dawson after the Beatles song "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" as he has a Beatles obsession. The mother doesn't show such parental feeling and as soon as they leave the hospital she gives Sam and Lucy the slip and disappears into the crowd leaving Sam holding the baby literally!

Sam as an equal
All is fine until Lucy reaches the age of 7 and then when she herself realises that she is getting smarter than her dad, she starts to curb her learning and the school notices that she is falling behind. Sam can only read "Fried Eggs and Ham", whereas Lucy could read more difficult books but she doesn't want to. Sam is called in by the school to discuss this but he doesn't help himself when he starts quoting Beatles anecdotes. He is then picked up for soliciting even though he was completely innocent and didn't know what was going on, but it doesn't help his cause with the social services. He has to go to a hearing in court and Lucy is taken away from him pending a further hearing. Sam doesn't know what's going on and even though the court said they would appoint legal counsel if he didn't have any, he doesn't understand and the court are too busy to pursue it with him.

Sam in court
Sam's case does not go well, his friends do not put over a convincing argument and when Sam finds himself being questioned he turns up covered in coffee after a stressful morning in Starbucks making coffee. Needless to say the lawyers run rings round Sam and it doesn't help when he starts quoting "Kramer vs Kramer". Sam is forced to admit that Lucy would be better off with someone else who could give Lucy things he can't, but they don't mention the most important thing that Sam can give - the unconditional love of a parent - who can buy that?

My views of the film
The film is compelling and stirs up emotions of anger against the legal system. I know this is a story, but how many children have been taken away from their loving parents just because the social services think they know what's best. Don't get me wrong, we need social services and we need them to be interested in the welfare of children, but they do make mistakes. The jacket of the film said it was going to be a tear jerker - I have to say I didn't cry, but I think it was because I was angry at the injustice I saw.

I thoroughly recommend this film, it's a film I shall certainly watch a second if not third time. It's got it all - emotion, drama and an excellent storyline. I bought my DVD from Virgin in a 5 DVD's for £30 offer and it was certainly worth the money. Please note that this film is rated 12.