Rating: 
Summary: Zest for Love
Review: "I Am Sam" is a great movie, not perfect, but one I will want to revisit. The handheld camera style that resembles NYPD Blue tries to give a realistic look to the picture, but doesn't totally work. The scene where Sam Dawson is arrested for solicitation is totally unbelievable, given the circumstance and Penn's convincing innocence. Unfortunately, this contrivance is the catalyst to launch the story. However, despite these blips, the story is moving. As Penn fights for his daughter Lucy Diamond Dawson, named after the Beatles' song, how can any father not be touched? The picture boils to down to the incredible and irreplaceable need for love which children and adults have. Without it, we wither. The performances are excellent. Will somebody please give Michelle Pfeiffer a great film role so she can get her Oscar? What a talented actress! The levels she reaches are breathtaking. The scene where she tells Dawson that she is not perfect and breaks down is a tour de force. Penn is so amazing in this picture. He has the mannerisms and is a bastian of focused concentration. The supporting cast is also great. Loretta (Boston Public) Divine as the evil social worker and Richard (West Wing) Schiff as the evil attorney are people we can love to hate. Dakota Fanning as the delightful Lucy tugs at the heartstrings. The scene where she knows she is being observed and says, "I want to be with my daddy," and then turns to the observation glass and shouts, "Did you hear that?" is a bullet to the heart. Laura Dern, Mary Steenburgen and Dianne Weist are also all great. Then there's the soundtrack! When Rufus Wainwright sings "Across the Universe," I want to stop the film and run to the stereo. The DVD deleted scenes are quite interesting. Penn & Fanning on the bus with the repeated joke about "Knock Knock, Orange," puts a smile on your face. The deleted takes of Penn getting upset with coffee customers are also final take quality. This film is great because it succeeds in reminding us about our humanity and that our love for our children should always of primary importance. It reminds us of our own zest for love. Blockbuster entertainment. Enjoy!
Rating:
Summary: A great movie in every, single way! FUNNY! SAD! SEE IT NOW!
Review: This movie is a true masterpiece. I have to say that I have not seen any other Sean Penn movies but this movie makes me want to. I saw this movie on a cruise with a bunch of friends. Everybody except me and another guy wanted to go cause most had seen it already. We hadn't and continuted to watch the movie that had already amazed us. Now we are guys, so I'm not gonna say we "cried" but let's just say we had to fight back our tears every second. Penn was such a heart warming character that you just had to feel for him. This was a year of close oscar contenders for best actor and not knowing Sean Penn, i disregardded him. After seeing this movie, his performance was out of this world. He was SO out of character it is hard to say he was not mentally disabled. This movie made me laugh too. It was entertaining in every single way. Again, the performances of not only Penn, but Michelle Pffier (sry for the spelling) and the little girl something Dakota or Dakota something was just great. In the end, I loved this movie, and it should be a part of everyone's collection. It's a must to see for people of all ages, because it will touch their heart, just like it did to mine.
Rating:
Summary: Sean Penn is the best!
Review: In my honest opinion the Academy Award for Best Actor went to the wrong person. Don't get me wrong, I love Denzel but I honestly thought Russell Crowe deserved it.....until I saw this movie. When you sit down to this movie bring a box of tissues. Sean Penn is absolutely phenomenal!! One of the best performances by anyone in any movie. About half way through the movie you actually begin to believe Sean is Sam Dawson. Michelle Pfeiffer is excellent as well but this is Sean's baby.
Thank you Sean!
Rating: 
Summary: I Wanted to Cry...But Then Felt Guilty
Review: "I Am Sam" is one of those feel-good movies that so shamelessly jerks your emotions around that you eventually don't know what to feel...except a little dirty. When tearing up during some of the film's more "dramatic" moments, I felt a little guilty. I knew the film was forcing me to cry the way Tony Soprano forces someone to pay him money. And after giving in, I felt like such a fool. The sappy (and, I think, unrealistic) story invloves a mentally disabled man, Sam (Sean Penn), fighting to keep custody of his 7-year-old daughter, Lucy (the adorable Dakota Fanning), after children's services take her away. The social workers and the family court system believe that because Sam has the mind of a 7-year-old, his daughter will soon surpass him in intelligence. Though I find that explanation a little too convenient, it is made obvious that the precocious Lucy Diamond Dawson (named after "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds," by the Beatles, whose covered songs have more of a presence in "I Am Sam" than logic) is smarter than Sam. For instance, she can spell "different." This would have been dismissable as pure hokum if not for the rather high-quality acting. However, the biggest surprise is not the obvious yet believable Penn or even the wonderful Fanning, but actually Michelle Pfeiffer, who plays a high-priced lawyer named Rita, who, after a series of script contrivances, comes to work for Sam pro bono (she cares what her colleagues think - yeah, right). Anyways, Pfeiffer makes her character so human and vulnerable that she really becomes even more likable than Sam. Another "plus" the movie has is Dianne Wiest, an expert at playing sympathetic characters, and whose gentle appearance as Sam's helpful neighbor, Annie, accounts for a lot. I bought the DVD because I saw the movie was produced by Marshall Herskovitz and Edward Zwick, who were not only producers of the excellent "Traffic," but also of the late, great TV series "Once and Again" (did all of you "O&A" fans spot Marin Hinkle as Rita's poor assistant?). The former was a skillful, multi-character navigation of a drug route and the latter was a humane, well-written family drama. Which goes to show you, I guess, that either producers aren't fully responsible for quality (blame "I Am Sam"'s debits on co-writer/director Jessie Nelson) or clumsily stumble and make bad decisions every now and then. Whatever the case, this "Sam" is a ham.
Rating:
Summary: my gosh what a movie
Review: funny, sad, heartwarming, uplifting.. i cannot say enough adjectives to do this movie justice. simply put, this was an awesome movie. the performances by all of the cast were great. the story was touching. the direction was superb. i am sam is one of the best movies ive seen in some time. this movie will make u feel true, pure emotion, which is something lacking in film today.
Rating: 
Summary: Rainman Meets Bureaucracy
Review: I gave this film three stars because I found it somewhat entertaining, and thought it raised some provocative issues. Much of the poignancy of the story is diluted, however, by a number of failures. Had these been attended to, this movie could have realized its five star potential. Sean Penn does a mediocre imitation of Dustin Hoffman's "Rainman" character ... and with the frequent references to Kramer Versus Kramer throughout the movie, this is incredibly distracting. The character of "Benny" on the old LA Law TV show demonstrated a much more convincing portrayal of somebody mentally challenged. Speaking of Kramer Versus Kramer, the final resolution is lifted almost directly from that movie--quite a disappointment. Michelle Pfeifer's character, as Penn's attorney, feels like a caricature, rather than a believable person. Oddly enough, her transformation, a sideshow to the main story line, demonstrates the most character growth of any of the major players ... and reflects Dustin Hoffman's transformation in Kramer Versus Kramer. This movie does demonstrate, however, the capricious nature of our social service system. We expect social workers to make good decisions about child welfare while we fail to provide budgets for adequate staffing. In this movie, that isn't made clear, all we see are social workers and therapists reacting to Sam out of prejudice. Off the silver screen, committed and well-meaning social workers and child therapists carry unrealistic case loads and cannot help but make mistakes, such as we see in this movie, on a regular basis. It's a good movie. Alas, it could have been much better. Enjoyable and somewhat provocative. Useful if it gets people to pay attention to how their local Department of Child and Family Services actually works. Incidentally, Trekkers should keep an eye out for a brief appearance by Brent Spiner (Data)...
Rating: 
Summary: Suprisingly Good.. 4.5
Review: I Am Sam" has its flaws. This is not a perfect film. This is not a masterpiece. Then why am I ranking it so highly? Because of the way it made me feel. It took me on an emotional rollercoaster and allowed me to ponder a lot of questions I've taken for granted in the past. This movie proves the saying, "People will always forget what you say, but they'll never forget the way you make them feel." This movie has its flaws and I'll get to them later, but I can only name them because the movie is still fresh in my mind. I'll probably forget them later. But what I will never forget is the way this movie made me feel. I'm not a law expert, so I wouldn't know if a mentally challenged man like Sam Dawson would legally be able to take custody of his daughter. But the law is not the issue. The issue is, Does Sam DESERVE to take custody of Lucy? And I watched those touching scenes between Sam and Lucy, I couldn't help but feel, "Yes!" In the courtroom scene where Sam cries out the line, "Why isn't Lucy coming home with me?" I couldn't provoke myself from bursting into tears. Sean Penn is an incredible actor, with great standards. I look forward to any movie where he's the star. Penn's the kind of actor who actually waits for a good script to come along, and will turn down a bad script even if the director offered him 20 million dollars. The thing that intrigues me about Sean Penn is that he's not an opportunist actor. When he's in a scene with another actor, he doesn't wait until his line comes up to deliver true emotion. He's a character actor in the truest sense, and he immerses into this character, not missing a single beat. If Russell Crowe didn't amaze me with his performance, I would've said that Penn deserved the Oscar. All I have to say is both of those actors deserved the Oscar over Denzel Washington. One great approach that Jessie Nelson (the director) took was hiring actors who actually have mental illness. It seemed to have improved the dynamic between Sam and his friends. And the actors, despite being handicapped, are naturals. They're reminiscent of Chris Burke in "Life Goes On." Now, onto the flaws. First of all, that scene where Sam almost goes to jail because he accidentally made conversation with a hooker (who turned out to be a cop posing as a hooker) was pretty far-fetched. Come on, the guy's obviously mentally ill, so why would the cop want to try and bust him? And even if he weren't mentally ill, how can you bust someone just for talking to a hooker, who doesn't even give him a clue that she's a hooker. This was just a cheap plot device to have him get into some trouble with the law, which will eventually result in the inevitable court battle. Another cheap plot device was Michelle Pfieffer taking Sam's case just because her fellow attorney's at a party were a little tipsy and stated that she would never take a pro-bono case (being that everyone thinks she's greedy and egotistical, and she pretty much is). Lucy's dialogue seems a little too witty for a child of her age. There are some people my age who don't even talk like her character. But I do have to give Dakota Fanning tons of credit for natural delivery of her lines and making her character quite convincing. As I said before, usually when child actors deliver smart, witty lines it looks incredibly forced, like they're reading off cue cards. But Dakota's a natural and I predict she'll grow up to become a fine actress. The movie goes on pretty long at 2 hours and 10 minutes, but not overlong. I don't believe any director should delete scenes that build character just to make the film snappy and perhaps make the audience feel better. There are lot of great character-building scenes that involve the relationships between Sam and his daughter, Sam and his new lawyer friend and Sam and his three loyal best friends. And because we get to know these characters so intimately that we develop a deep sympathy for them. Go ahead and complain about "I Am Sam" being a sentimental tearjerker. It's a sentimental tearjerker with a great heart. And even the most macho of guys will probably have tears rolling down their cheeks while watching this movie. I've seen quite a few well-made films with great performances that have nothing else to show for themselves other than...they're well-made! I can't find any flaws in their structures, but I got nothing out of these films. One example is "Wonder Boys"--very well-made film; had virtually no impact on me. "I Am Sam" has imperfections in its structure, but it had a huge impact on me and it's a film I will never forget! So like the character of Sam Dawson proves in the film--being perfect isn't everything. Just a little too long...
Rating:
Summary: Heartwarming and thought-provoking
Review: Sean Penn never gets out of character in his portrayal of Sam, a retarded man who is single-handedly raising his 7-year-old daughter, Lucy. Eventually Lucy's school becomes concerned that he is not capable of caring for her, and the Department of Children and Families threatens to take her away. Sam meets an uptight lawyer, played by Michelle Pfeiffer, who agrees to take his case pro bono. The rest of the movie features the struggle of Penn and Pfeiffer to keep Lucy with her father. Pfeiffer's character has a son about Lucy's age who feels rejected by his overly-busy mother, and she begins to learn a few things about parenting from Sam. The movie touches the emotions and asks some serious questions about the rights of retarded adults vs. the needs of their children. All the actors hit the right notes, including the charming young lady who plays Lucy, and the men who play Sam's supportive friends, who are also retarded.
Rating: 
Summary: I Know You Came Here Because You Think You Like This Film
Review: Usually folks don't like negative reviews......if you really like stories about underdogs, you will like this film. However, if you need some reality touchstones, there are simply too many Hollywood PR machine touches to the script.....it is just too far out and for me it destroyed any shred of credibility for the story. Sure Penn does his usual credible acting job, but the script is too far out.....keep it up Sean and you'll be like Hanks.....all the cute scripts for the no-brainers out there!
Rating:
Summary: Had Been Avoiding Due to Retardation Premise
Review: I'm glad I finally broke down and viewed this film. It is excellent. Sean Penn does another one of his top of the line acting jobs whereas Michelle Pfeiffer gives the performance of her career as the lawyer who really doesn't want his case. If you don't know any retarded people, divorce lawyers, agoraphobiacs, prosecutors, foster parents or social workers, then you may feel this film is off the mark. Having worked as a divorce lawyer for a decade though, I can tell you this film is spot on to both the system and people it portrays. If you have any lingering doubts about Penn's acting abilities, you should view back to back this film, "Carlito's Way," "Dead Man Walking" "She's So Lovely" and "Sweet and Low Down." Penn is totally convincing in each as a 1) retarded man who is father of bright daughter, 2) coke addled criminal defense attorney, 3) convinct about to be executed for rape and murder who connects with a nun, 4) man in marginal existence with wife, due to mental illness, who acts out in violence one night and consequences that ensue 5) wholly self absorbed, brilliant jazz musician. I've read that he never wins the Oscar because although the members of the Academy love his work, they hate him personally. I've also read that Penn finds acting to be very exhausting, painful work because it takes everything out of him. I think it's about time the Academy started rewarding those who actually "work" at the acting profession, like Penn does, rather than running a popularity contest. Fortunately, the Cannes jury, famously more concerned about solely one's artistic ability, has singled him out for such honors.
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