I Am Sam (2001)

User Rating:

7.3/10   

Director:

Jessie Nelson

Writers (WGA):

Kristine Johnson (written by) &
Jessie Nelson (written by)

Release Date:

25 January 2002 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

love is all you need

Plot:

A mentally retarded man fights for custody of his 7-year-old daughter, and in the process teaches his cold-hearted lawyer the value of love and family.

Plot Keywords:

The Beatles | Lawyer | Custody | Mother Son Relationship | Social Service

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 8 wins & 9 nominations

Cast

Sean Penn	...	Sam Dawson
Michelle Pfeiffer	...	Rita Harrison Williams
Dakota Fanning	...	Lucy Diamond Dawson
Dianne Wiest	...	Annie Cassell
Loretta Devine	...	Margaret Calgrove
Richard Schiff	...	Mr. Turner
Laura Dern	...	Randy Carpenter
Brad Silverman	...	Brad (as Brad Allan Silverman)
Joseph Rosenberg	...	Joe
Stanley DeSantis	...	Robert
Doug Hutchison	...	Ifty
Rosalind Chao	...	Lily
Ken Jenkins	...	Judge Philip McNeily
Wendy Phillips	...	Miss Wright
Mason Lucero	...	Conner Rhodes

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for language.

Runtime:

132 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Iceland:L | Malaysia:U | USA:PG-13 (certificate #38443) | New Zealand:M | Norway:11 (DVD rating) | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Brazil:Livre | Finland:S | France:U | Germany:6 | Hong Kong:IIA | Netherlands:AL | Peru:14 | Philippines:G | Singapore:PG | South Korea:12 | Spain:7 | Sweden:7 | Switzerland:10 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:10 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:12 (canton of the Grisons) | UK:12

Filming Locations:

Echo Park, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

New Line Cinema

Trivia:

Sean Penn wanted the soundtrack to be all Beatles music, but was unable to get the rights, so he asked various artists to cover the Beatles songs he wanted to use. And in order for the re-recorded music to fit into the movie, each of the artists had to use the same tempo as the original Beatles songs.

Goofs:

Factual errors: Credits list "starbucks barrister" instead of "barista".

Quotes:

Sam: Yeah, but I tried, I tried hard.
Rita: Try harder!
Sam: Yeah, but you don't know, you don't know!
Rita: I don't know WHAT?
Sam: Yeah, you don't know what is like when you try, and you try, and you try, and you try, and you don't ever get there! Because you were born perfect and I was born like this, and you're perfect!
Rita: Oh, is that right?
Sam: People like you don't know...
Rita: People like me?
Sam: People like you don't know what is like to get hurted. Because you don't have feelings. People like you don't feel anything!

Movie Connections:

References "Lost in Space" (1965)

Soundtrack:

Across the Universe

Very well done, especially Penn and Fanning

In 'Rain Man', Dustin Hoffman gave the best portrayal I have ever seen of a mentally disturbed person, but Sean Penn came very close here. He was quite convincing but somewhat funnier. With Hoffman, I never quite knew when he was supposed to be funny, but with Penn there were many funny moments that I felt okay about laughing at. And I just had to like the character.

I've heard so many good things about Dakota Fanning, and now I see for myself. She's great.

The actors playing Sam's friends also seemed very convincing, one in particular. I didn't catch his name, but he wore glasses and I think he must have really been mentally disabled. The others could have been but might just have been acting.

MIchelle Pfeiffer was very good also, and gorgeous. And Richard Schiff was likable as the lawyer on the other side of Sam's case. In fact, I didn't see those who were against Sam as evil. They just had Lucy's best interests in mind. But I wanted Sam to win.

While it is true this may have been done before, I think this movie offered unique twists and qualities other movies didn't have, and the performances were very good.