I Am Sam

4.00
    I Am Sam
    2001

    Synopsis

    Sam, a neurodivergent man, has a daughter with a homeless woman who abandons them when they leave the hospital, leaving Sam to raise Lucy on his own. But as Lucy grows up, Sam's limitations as a parent start to become a problem and the authorities take her away. Sam convinces high-priced lawyer Rita to take his case pro bono and in turn teaches her the value of love and family.

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    Cast

    • Sean PennSam Dawson
    • Michelle PfeifferRita Harrison Williams
    • Dianne WiestAnnie Cassell
    • Dakota FanningLucy Diamond Dawson
    • Richard SchiffMr. Turner
    • Loretta DevineMargaret Calgrove
    • Marin HinklePatricia
    • Laura DernRandy Carpenter
    • Brad SilvermanBrad
    • Joseph RosenbergJoe

    Recommendations

    • 75

      San Francisco Chronicle

      Not about the justice or injustice of the legal system. Rather it's about the tragedy of Sam's predicament.
    • 70

      Los Angeles Times

      A warm, hard-to-resist story.
    • 63

      Chicago Tribune

      The role sounds like a sentimental trap, but Penn doesn't fall into it. It's a sensational performance, and he illumines a movie that sometimes seems in danger of descending into modish Hollywood political correctness.
    • 50

      Charlotte Observer

      The cancer of dishonesty begins to grow half an hour into the film, and it riddles the picture by the end.
    • 50

      Slate

      Just don't believe the anti-hype. There are lots of reasons to have a good cry these days -- here's a nice, warm place to get squeezed.
    • 40

      Time

      As the director of this noble weepie, Nelson so overuses visual tricks -- zooms, zip pans and multiple perspectives on a simple scene -- that she turns the viewer into an exasperated parent; this is a directorial style in need of a spanking.
    • 40

      L.A. Weekly

      By-the-numbers Oscar bait -- but Penn does manage, against such odds, to make us see Sam as a person, not a performance.
    • 30

      Rolling Stone

      Contrived, manipulative and shamelessly sentimental, this film is notable for the courageous reach of Sean Penn, who gives a bold, heartfelt performance.

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