Rating: 
Summary: Sam-A Movie with True Heart
Review: I have seen this movie several times--I have never gotten tired of seeing it. Sean Penn takes his acting ability to a new level--definitely a movie with heart. Michelle--what can I say? She plays her part to a definite degree of perfection. With Sean and Michelle playing off each other and the storyline being what it is, definitely a winner. The movie industry has lost the essence of what it means to make a movie with feeling. I believe "I Am Sam" has it all and reinstates the human spirit--the way we all should be.
Rating:
Summary: I Am Perfect!
Review: It's always interesting to watch a good actor thinking in a close-up, but here it's particularly fascinating. As Sam, Penn thinks with all his might -- and moves very slowly. Sometimes, when he talks, we can see the moment where his thoughts go off track and he becomes lost. At other times, we see him struggling to find the words to express a complicated feeling. Early in the movie, there is a quiet moment when his daughter (Dakota Fanning), whom he is raising alone, asks him why he is not like other kids' daddies. She has reached the age at which she can tell the difference, and a wonderful look of dawning uncertainty moves across Penn's face. He has worried about this moment. The story of "I Am Sam" centers on a court case. The county decides that Sam is incapable of raising his daughter and takes her away from him. Sam, with incredible luck, manages to get himself a high-powered attorney, played by Michelle Pfeiffer as a beautifully coiffed, over-caffeinated type-triple-A train wreck. The litigation goes on for the length of the movie, but "I Am Sam" is no "Philadelphia," in which one side is clearly right and the other wrong. Instead, "I Am Sam" does two important things. It makes it absolutely clear that Sam is a loving father. Penn's scenes with Fanning -- who is bright, big- eyed and adorable -- are touching in the way Sam so easily connects with a child's mind. He's like a real-live teddy bear. At the same time, the movie makes it absolutely unclear whether Sam really is capable of adequately raising this child through adolescence and into adulthood. "I Am Sam" is not about the justice or injustice of the legal system. Rather it's about the tragedy of Sam's predicament. By refusing to make the social workers into villains, and by never succumbing to the temptation to give Sam an improbable moment of lucidity or insight, the filmmakers avoid two obvious traps. But they put themselves into a less obvious trap with regard to plot. Sam is never going to change. So any plot motion has to come from another character. Two-thirds of the way in, "I Am Sam" comes to a standstill. Desperate for forward motion of any kind, the movie starts concentrating on the relationship between the hard-driving attorney and Sam. The idea is that somehow, just by being in contact with Sam's loving nature, the attorney is forced to confront the shallowness of her existence. It's the script's one blast of insincerity, but it's a big one, and Pfeiffer has the burden of trying to carry it off. In one scene, she breaks down in tears as she unburdens herself to him about her miserable life. It's hard not to cringe, watching this emotionally ready actress fling herself headlong into false material. Most of the last part of "I Am Sam" is made up of inconclusive scenes, followed by long and overused musical interludes featuring Beatles songs. Yet just when "I Am Sam" seems about ready to descend into the very stickiness and sentimentality it had managed to avoid, the movie rescues itself -- by knowing when to end. Director Jessie Nelson has made a stylish picture from a screenplay she wrote with Kristine Johnson. In moments of tension, she uses a staccato zoom effect -- moving in on actors' faces in abrupt increments. It creates an unsettled quality. Yet more impressive is her handling of the court scenes, in which she gives us a peek into Sam's childlike perspective by showing us how he sees the proceedings.
Rating: 
Summary: I feel stupid for having rented this.
Review: This is by far one of the worst movies I have seen to date. Very predictable, and full of scenes with unrealistic dialog. Penns poor performance is only worsened by the unimaginative and bland screenwritting and direction of this movie. At times I had to wonder if the script itself was written by someone afflicted with "Sam's" mental disability. Complete fecal matter.
Rating:
Summary: Everyone has the right to love & be loved
Review: In 'I am Sam', we witness how a mentally challenged person try to live as normally as he can under present circumstances & cope with society's expectations & demands. Everyone has the right to be happy, to live, to love & be loved. The state or the society draws a mark between normal & not-normal individuals, (probably) with the noblest intentions but with an insensitive means. It was no longer expounded how Sam impregnated a stray woman or if that child has been his at all. But regardless of that fact, we see Sam fight for his daughter's life, her love & her happiness albeit his mental (& financial)inability to fulfill her needs (except for his unflagging love & loyalty). This film also shows the contrast between Sam's simplistic but happy & fulfilled life (prior to the state taking his daughter) vs. Rita's successful career but degenerating family relationship. Let us all pause for a while & think who is really incapable here of living a happy & healthy life...Sam, who is mentally inept but has earned his daughter's full trust & love, or Rita (who represents all of us) who is mentally competent but couldn't decipher how to run her own life & those she loves? Most of the time, we outgrow the heart & mind of a child...a child who is trusting, loving, honest, willing, succumbing. But Sam, (thanks or no-thanks to his shortcoming) has more heart than any of the 'normal' people have.
Rating:
Summary: It wasn't good
Review: When i first heard about this movie, I thought that it was going to be very sad and emotional, but it turns out that it wasn't(Only the idea and plot is). In this movie you are supposed to feel sorry for the mentally challenged guy(the main character), but for some reason I thought he was just plain stupid. No, my heart did not melt and I did not cry when he said "I want my baby back!" I actually laughed, because it was the complete opposite of sad, and i honestly(realistically) don't think that he should of been a loud to have a child...its abuse!(By the way, for the movie sountrack and throughout the film, why didn't they put the original Beatles songs, instead of "cover" wannabe bands?...they probably didn't want the audience to focus completely on the music maybe and not on the actual movie?
Rating: 
Summary: Deleted Scenes Make this DVD
Review: This movie is very hit and miss, with some good scenes and some real stinkers. In the deleted scenes, they have the take of the "love" scene between Pfeiffer and Penn which they removed for the theatrical release. Wow! Hot stuff. I don't think Pfeiffer had a body double--and what a body. She looks great from the neck down, better than she looks in the face. I didn't think she did topless stuff, but I was wrong. The most touching part is when she tells him she has some ideas for what he can do with that always-open mouth of his, and then his head disappears from the screen under the tulage of her guiding hand. Later in the scene, you cannot see her hands and Penn has a big smile, then her head disappears as well. Then there's a reverse cowgirl. Amazing! A little raunchy, but highly recommended. The rest of the flick is a bore. The "courtroom" scenes are straight out of "Nightcourt." And the ending is predictable, except I thought maybe Penn would hook up with Dern for a little poo after Pfeiffer showed Penn what hot chicks are capable of. Watch it for the deleted sex scenes only.
Rating:
Summary: Giving Penn 5 Stars is an Understatement! Awesome!
Review: Honestly, I haven't seen very many movies in my lifetime, running into this one in a plane movie marathon, I have discovered the best acting job (Sean Penn) that I have ever seen! (even better than the Lord of The Rings!) Sean Penn's Character, Sam, a mentally chalenged person (with the mental capacity of a seven-year-old) working at a Starbucks. He is pulled out of work to see his wife ( ?I don't know who she was) giving birth in the hospital. Waiting for the bus, she deserts him, leaving this retarded person to raise a baby. With the help of a neighbor, he actually does. Once his daughter, Lucy, goes into school, she finds out how different her dad is, and is often poked fun at. After a special birthday party, made special by Sam, goes haywire, Sam is questioned in court about being able to raise a daughter. After meeting a lawyer (Pfiefer) who is, in the spotlight of her lawyer friends, agrees to do the case pro bono. The ret of the movie has very heart-wrenching and sad parts. But Penn's ever-present twitching, messed-up hair, and speech make this movie very believable, with his mini-club of mentally challenged friends, often talking about random things, but being very accurate about the Beatles and videos. A great movie that is well worth watching.
Rating:
Summary: If you ever need to cry
Review: This tearjerker was well acted by Michelle and Sean. From start to finish this movie was an oscar contender. Sorry Denzel, but Sean should have won the Oscar for his role in this movie! I liked the fact that this movie portrayed realistically that it would be impossible for a mentally challenged person to raise a child on his own.
Rating: 
Summary: Get a box of kleenex
Review: If you like a good heart warming movie then this is the one for you. Sean Penn plays the part of a developmentally disabled adult who has a child. The state tries to take his daughter away from him. As usual Sean Penn graabs your attention and keeps it til the end of the film.
Rating:
Summary: Everyone has a heart of gold.
Review: ... The Beatles music is very effective, and never quite sounded so good. Sean Penn's best role as it asked him to step out of his tough guy role that doesn't ask him to stretch at all. Unlike Rainman, which is corny, this film sings. It's also visually beautiful. Laura Dern has an excellent cameo, and Michelle Pfeiffer does really well, too. I couldn't figure out how Penn's character ever created a baby in the first place, and this was more or less left out of the film, as was her mother, but this is the only flaw in the film. Also, it was unclear whether the lawyer (Pfeiffer) made love to her client at one point. I hope not, but it was implied that they did. That's wrong, I think, because the lawyer shouldn't have done that. Also there were some domestic details at the end that weren't clear, but the emotional conclusion does work.
| 
