Rating: 
Summary: Treacle Treacle Little Stars!
Review: What do you get when you combine "Rain Man", 1968's "Charly", and Chaplin's "The Kid"? Well, you get something like "I Am Sam" (which could have been sub-titled "Sean Penn's Bid for an Oscar"), but not nearly as good as these aforementioed films. Which is not to say that Penn, as the "developmentally disabled" Sam Dawson, does not give an Oscar caliber performance -as does the radiant Michelle Pfeiffer as his frazzled, type-A lawyer, and Dakota Fanning as his preternaturally precocious and adorable daughter. No, the problem with "I am Sam" does not reside with its cast, but with a script that is not satisfied to merely push your feel-good buttons, but rather to jab them with Lennox Lewis's boxing gloves. Not content to tug at our heart strings, but like Lovely Rita Meter Maid, drive up a truck and tow your whole ticker away. Speaking of the Beatles, whom Sam is obsessed with and whose songs, covered by various contemporary artists, saturate the film -well I'm a big a fan as anyone -but the whole thing feels like a gratuitous and irrelevant conceit -more a cynical marketing ploy, calculated to further add to the film's cloying sentiments -than serving any integral facet of the film's plot or theme. Thus, at crucial points in the film as Sam battles with the wicked Blue Meanies from the state child welfare system, he blurts out bewildering non sequitirs of Beatles trivia such as the fact that Paul and John lost their mothers at a young age; that Yoko was not really to blame for breaking up the group; that George Harrison wrote one of the better songs on "Abbey Road" and Pfeiffer's character, (Rita Harrison, no less), says George was her favorite Beatle. Well, that all may be very interesting, but what bearing to has on a potentially serious drama examining the abilities of profoundly retarded man to be an effective father, is a bit of puzzlement. I guess where supposed to settle complacently with little Lucy's assertion that "all you need is love". Well, yeah, sure you need lots of love, but you need other things as well - a fact with which "I am Sam", a simplistic exercise in bathos chooses not to deal.
Rating: 
Summary: WHY NO COMMENTS ON PRODUCT PLACEMENT?
Review: Basically, this is a good story, with some good acting. But any chance of it being a great movie was destroyed by, least of all, directing and editing flaws and numerous storyline implausibilities, but most of all, an unprecedented level of product placement. In fact, I would say that the commerciality of this film is a real blow to the work of the actors, as well as a slap in the audience's face. But what is more shocking to me, is that none of the posting reviewers seems to think this is important. Why are people so kind about a movie so absolutely OVERWHELMED with product placement??? I have never seen a movie filled with this much advertising. If I were any of the actors in this film, I would be sure to get my next role in a real film, rather than a big commercial that blatantly utilizes our emotional responsiveness to repeatedly slam products into our heads. For godsakes, they put Sam's daughter Lucy in front of a 7-11 each and every time she goes to see him at night... I truly wish there were more commentary on this, for we are ensuring that this goes on by saying nothing. Honestly, if I had known I'd be watching a two-hour commercial, I NEVER would have watched this film. Why are we PAYING to be advertised to? If this continues, they should be pay us at the cinema door. Let me repeat, this was an okay movie ... but I could barely see it through the commercials.
Rating: 
Summary: Beautiful
Review: What an absolutly beautiful and touching film this was. This is the kind of movie you love to see made, and you only hope that everyone watches it. To be able to feel such strong emotions throughout this film, and become so deeply involved that you truly do see the characters as real people not the actors is a great thing. I really did laugh and cry while watching this movie, and when it was over it was the shock of coming back into real life that makes you understand how real the film felt. I would disagree with others about the ending of the film, as I thought it was a beautiful ending. Just before the end you heard...Fantastic camera work. It is always good to see people decide not to shoot an entire film straight on at a level hight. Good art should be appriciated in films such as this one.
Rating:
Summary: Superb acting, meaningful film! Oscar material!
Review: Upon watching this film, I came to a realization. Sean Penn is one of the best actors, period. His performance portraying 'Sam' in this film was beyond excellence! He was so utterly believable and convincing as Sam, that the film drew me in from the getgo. I especially have a 'soft spot' in my heart for individuals that are mentally-challenged, since one of my dear brothers is. I have experienced, day-to-day, long-term over decades, what it is like to share the ups and downs of a bittersweet relationship with such a person that you love dearly, but often feel powerless to help. And, as exemplified by Michelle Pfeiffer's character, often you learn lessons from the challenged as well!
Rating:
Summary: Heavy-handed 'message' movie
Review: Chicago Sun Times film critic Roger Ebert makes a very interesting point in movie reviews when he says the playing a mentally handicapped person is one of the easiest (and least impressive) acting jobs. Any role involving a handicapped person basically directs itself. It's not terribly hard for an actor to assume the mannerisms of a person with a disability. Yet, it often proves to be one of the most manipulative acting conventions out there. Audiences tend to get emotionally moved by actors in such roles without truly realizing that most of these actors bring little or no depth to the character they're playing. A classic movie where an actor played a mentally handicapped individual and was able to do so in a way that provided depth and genuine emotion was "Rain Man" with Dustin Hoffman in that role.
Unfortunately, the movie "I Am Sam" does not provide that kind of depth of character in Sean Penn's portrayal of Sam Dawson, a handicapped person with the mental capacity of a 7-year old. Sam unwittingly got a homeless woman pregnant and, after the birth of his daughter, is left to raise the child by himself when the woman just runs away after delivery. It's quite possible that a touching movie could have been made out of this premise had the powers that be not decided that the messages of "handicapped people can be good parents" and "all you need is love" needed to be drilled home every 5 minutes. Almost anytime Sam is asked a question or forced to deal with something complex, he resorts to quoting Beatles' lyrics and lore. This seems to be the director's way heavy-handed way of showing the audience that all the answers to life can be found in the Beatles' music. Much more disconcerting than Sam's attempts to raise his daughter Lucy (as in 'in the Sky with Diamonds'... ha ha.. get it?), is Lucy's dialogue with Sam. She may well be very intelligent for her age (7 years), but some of her dialogue is uncomfortably grownup. Of all the children I have known in my life, I have never known a 7-year old who would spout comments like Lucy does. It's very clear that the directors put more adult dialogue in the script for her to recite in order for her to seem more intelligent and, I guess, providing a more 'touching' contrast with Sam.
The rest of the movie surrounds a perfunctory court case where the state is trying to take Lucy away from Sam because they do not think he is a fit father. This, of course, brings out yuppie lawyer Michelle Pfeiffer (in her worst performance since "Scarface") agreeing to do this case pro-bono and, of course, learning from Sam the truly important lessons in life. The court scenes bring out every conceivable cliche' and melodramatic acting from Pfeiffer objecting to just about everything opposing counsel says to emotionally overwrought speaches by Sam, Pfeiffer's character, and a so-called 'expert' witness. The movie, itself, is quite insulting in its treatment of the subject matter and is aggravating in its insistence on reminding you that you're watching and important 'message' movie. Interestingly enough, the best acting performance in this movie comes from one of Sam's friends, Brad, who's portrayer, Brad Silverman, actually has Down Syndrome. His words and actions are very genuine, and the director would have been well advised to pattern Sean Penn's performance on how Brad carries himself in everyday life.
This movie is terribly heavy-handed and manipulative. Unless you enjoy having your emotions manipulated, I would advise skipping this movie.
Rating: 
Summary: I do not like green eggs and ham
Review: ...but this movie was okay. The contrast between Penn and Pfeiffer's characters was well done. The insight offered by Penn's character (Sam) into his lawyer's life was excellent. The courtroom scenes were too prolonged. The relationship between Sam and Lucy was touching, especially when the 7-11 was involved, and the outcome was feel-goodish. I would have liked to have seen less of the legal battle and more of life after the closing credits. What happened to the characters after the credits rolled. How did Lucy turn out? How did Pfeiffer's character turn out and did she really reprioritize her life or not. We get some implied answers, but the crew who put this together missed the boat. The movie could have been just that much better with an extension of time. Penn was a little to "rain man" like for the movie. 3.75 stars
Rating:
Summary: Not a bad movie, but Sean is outshined by supporting cast
Review: Sean Penn is a great actor. He's tackled some tough roles and does a credible job in this film, in which a mentally retarded man with the intelligence of a 7-year-old raises a daughter for 7 years, then has her taken away by the state and has to fight to regain custody. The movie has a flimsy set-up. It opens up with Sean carrying the baby and a woman leaving the hospital to get on a bus. The woman takes off and disappears into the crowd. We learn that she was homeless and was staying with Penn only because she needed a place to stay. After she gave birth, she took off. That set-up is pretty thin, but if you ignore it, then the rest of the movie is OK. OK, not great. Sean sometimes seems to really capture the essence of a retarded man, while at times he seems to be simply overacting. He was nominated for a best-actor Oscar but lost to the more deserving Denzel Washington for his role in Training Day. One of the best parts of this movie is Sean's group of mentally challenged friends, some of whom have Down's syndrome, are retarded, or are obviously paranoid to the extreme. The group gets together weekly to watch videos and meet for meals and become, in essence, the Greek Chorus of this film. They have some of the best lines and literally steal the audience's attention whenever they and Sean are on-screen together. Michelle Pfeiffer plays an over-wrought, high-strung, high-priced attorney who obnoxiously blows off Penn's character until she suddenly takes on Penn's case pro bono in an awkward series of scenes that don't flow well. Michelle's character is devoted to her job and has lost the love of her young son and her husband is sleeping with another woman -- in short, she is more dysfunctional than Penn's character. OK, Hollywood to the rescue. As she witnesses Penn's love for his daughter Lucy. The daughter is named after the Beatles song "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" and Penn's character is a devout Beatles fan.The soundtrack to the album consists of some very good covers of Beatles songs, especially Eddie Vedder's "You've Got You Hide Your Love Away" and the Aimee Mann/Michael Penn (yes, Sean's brother, and husband and wife) cover of "The Two of Us." In the end, of course, Pfeiffer comes around and changes the priorities in her life and Penn gains back his daughter, who ended up with foster mother Laura Dern. The resolution of the movie is a lot like the beginning -- some suspension of belief in reality is required. Overall, though, "I Am Sam" is a decent little movie. ...
Rating:
Summary: Non-Sean Fan Reformed
Review: I have to admit I was never a big Sean Penn fan. I see now I've probably missed out on a few good movies. He IS Sam! Penn is so believable, if you didn't know him from previous work, you wouldn't know he wasn't the real Sam. In the course of this movie he took me through a gamut of emotions - amusement, sadness, anger, embarrassment, love, joy and more. Michelle Pfeiffer gives a solid performance as the beautiful, wealthy lawyer who learns more from Sam about living success-fully than he learns about the world from her. Dakota Fanning as Sam's daughter shows us both the innocence of a child and the beyond-her-years wisdom of one who has had to deal with adversity. Dianne Wiest reveals the complexity of her character subtly, like peeling the layers of an onion.
Rating:
Summary: Penn was fantastic
Review: I never thought I would like a film with Sean Penn in it. But I was very surprised to see Penn do so well. His performance made this movie.
Rating:
Summary: Sean Penn and Michelle Pfeiffer are wonderful in this!
Review: I Am Sam gave me new respect for Sean Penn and Michelle Pfeiffer. It's a wonderful film with a story that'll touch your heart. See it with your family. My only question is why didn't this get an Oscar?
|
