“I am Sam” is the moving story of a Father and the love for his daughter, and the challenges that he has in demonstrating his ability to be a ‘proper’ father to her, despite his own limitations.
Sam, played by Sean Penn, is a mentally retarded father struggling to bring up his daughter on his own in less than what are normally considered ideal circumstances. Bordering on obsessive compulsive, and autistic, Sam earns a meagre income waiting on tables at Starbucks, even taking his young daughter Lucy Diamond Dawson, (Played by the adorable Dakota Fanning, together with her younger sister Elle) to work with him.
Despite all the odds, Sam seems to do relatively well at fatherhood, although his daughter sleeps in the same room in the hammock she had since birth and he relies on their agoraphobic neighbour to help him out in the motherhood department. There is no denying that the love between father and daughter is incredibly touching.
The scenes between them are both amusing and heartfelt; right from the moment Lucy
was abandoned into the care of her father by her birth mother, to the after school moments when she was reading Green Eggs and Ham with her Father in a reversal of roles, from the age of five or six. However things start to go awry when social services step in because the school do not feel Lucy is continuing to learn.
The fundamental roadblock seems to be that as Lucy approaches seven, she does not want to overtake her beloved Daddy in the intelligence stakes and seems to refuse to want to learn any more, leading us to a moving scene where Penn pushes her to read a word he himself cannot understand. By the time of her seventh birthday, Lucy has began to deny her father at school, telling other kids she is adopted, and her fun birthday party laid on by her father is totally ruined when social services show up to take her into care.
Enter Michelle Pfeiffer who is a busy and stressed lawyer, with a straying husband and a seven year old boy of her own who she cannot seem to relate to; hence her own challenges with parenthood. As unlikely a client as Sam is; for her expensive practice; she ends up representing him free of charge, in his fight for the return of his daughter.
This movie has the ability to make you both laugh and cry. Some of the scenes between Lucy, her father and his supportive yet ‘retarded’ (to use the film’s term) friends are moving and represent real love and caring – the shoe shop scene for example! And many of the scenes involving his four best friends are guaranteed to tug at the heart strings.
But ultimately there is the utter despair as the case is not going to plan, despite Pfeiffer’s desperate attempts to coach her unusual witnesses and the inevitable taking into foster care and separation from her Father, who if nothing else can show you how much a Father can love his child, despite his own personal limitations.
Both Lucy and Sam show how much they are fighters in their own ways and in their determination to be reunited with each other, despite all the odds.
At age just six years old, Fanning plays a blinder in the role of Lucy and is guaranteed to win the audience over, and she has gone on to prove her ability in films since this one was made four years ago.
Both Penn and Pfeiffer are convincing and enjoyable to watch as their own friendships form, and even a high flying executive lawyer can learn a thing or two from the Customer Services Assistant from Starbucks with a mental age of seven.
What is guaranteed to bring on the tears when watching this movie (sorry guys) is the unconditional love that Sam has for others, in his black and white way of seeing the world and wanting it as simple as it can possibly be.
If it is a quiet night in and some good old fashioned love, then this move will provide that and will give two hours of entertainment and laughs which should not disappoint. Set within a background of Beatles trivia, that provides a seal for father and daughter’s bond. Funny, yet tragic, heartfelt and passionate; this film should provide 2 hours of enjoyable entertainment for most viewers.
Directed by Jessie Nelson, also known for the wonderful movie Stepmom and The Story of Us the film is runtime 132 minutes and rated 12.
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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 failed to see this when it originally came out and until now had completely forgotten about it. Going to have to keep my eyes open for it now as it sounds pretty good.
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...
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