I Am Sam-2001

Director Jessie Nelson

Starring Sean Penn, Michelle Pfeiffer

Scott’s Review #1,097

Reviewed December 30, 2020

Grade: B-

Sean Penn stars as a mentally disabled man who fathers a child and is determined to cling to the custody of her after he is deemed unfit to parent in I Am Sam (2001), a drama that garnered Penn an Oscar nomination.

The brilliant actor may have deserved the win, since he breathes life into a film riddled with every imaginable cliché.

Aside from his performance and that of the novice Dakota Fanning, the film would be drivel.

As it is, it’s mediocre at best.

Somewhere, sometime, somehow, in cinema history, the consensus became that if an actor plays a mentally challenged character, they are assured an Academy Award nomination.

Juliette Lewis tried and failed with the cringeworthy The Other Sister (1999), but Penn has better credibility. Dustin Hoffman also succeeded with Rain Man (1988).

Sam (Penn) is a well-adjusted man and has a supportive group of friends with disabilities.

His neighbor, Annie (Dianne Wiest), assists in raising Sam’s daughter, Lucy (Fanning), but the eight-year-old quickly exceeds her father’s mental capacity, leading to frustration and conflict.

Lucy’s mother, a homeless woman, has vanished from the scene.

The justice system determines that Lucy must be placed with a foster family led by Randy (Laura Dern), prompting Sam to hire a no-nonsense attorney, Rita (Pfeiffer). Both Randy and Rita sympathize with Sam and must convince the courts that he can raise her.

Jessie Nelson, who directed I Am Sam, also directed safe films like Corrina, Corrina (1994) and Stepmom (1999), so her intention to present a warm, soft experience is easy to discern.

This is not meant to criticize her direction style as much as to point out that the result is not a hard-edged, gritty experience.

It’s a crowd-pleaser, and there is never a moment where Nelson wants the audience to root against Sam keeping custody of Lucy, regardless of the reality.

Penn saves the film from being a complete stereotype. It’s apparent that Sam adores Lucy, and the actor is not afraid to cry and express genuine emotion on cue. He’s a great actor and makes the most out of the role.

He does his best to insinuate that mentally challenged people are like everyone else- they can keep a job, pay bills, hire a lawyer, and fight for their kids. His task is tough, but he succeeds.

That’s what raises I Am Sam as an overall product.

Fanning, who in 2001 was about to embark on a fabulously rich acting career, is wonderful. Unlike many child actors, cast because they are cute or bubbly, she has real acting chops. She is neither girly nor overly sad.

Fanning is as strong, focused, and detailed as her eight-year-old character is.

Speaking of stereotypes, Pfeiffer is awarded the grand prize in female attorney banality. She is haggard, absorbed in her work, and has no time for her son, taking Sam’s case only to prove she is a kind person, since she agrees to pro bono work.

Predictably, she realizes through Sam that she is wasting her life away, leaving her husband and spending more time with her son.

Dern does her best with a weak role as the one-dimensional foster parent who realizes she cannot be half the parent Sam can be.

The film’s title is derived from the opening lines “I am Sam / Sam I am” of the book Green Eggs and Ham, which is read in the movie.

This makes the film showcase sentimentalism and hammers home the point that the mentally disabled are child-like and need the help, patience, and understanding of non-disabled adults, as if that isn’t obvious.

The conclusion to I Am Sam is expected.

The lengthy courtroom scenes are wrapped in a nice, shiny bow as Sam predictably retains custody of Lucy. At the same time, the supporting cast gathers on a soccer field and dutifully gushes with delight at how great a father he is.

This is a fine tribute or fantasy, and if only real life were like this, what a better world it would be. I would have preferred a story with more meat.

I Am Sam (2001) is recommended only for huge Sean Penn fans or those who desire an overly sentimental experience.

It might have been better suited for Lifetime television.

Oscar Nominations: Best Actor-Sean Penn