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It seems in every actor's career, he or she must tackle the role of someone with a terminal illness or handicap. This year, it is Sean Penn's (Up At The Villa) turn. Penn portrays Sam, a gentle man who is mentally challenged with autistic tendencies. The title comes from Green Eggs & Ham by Dr. Seuss. Sam repeats things over and over, not just to remind himself, but to define him. This is essentially what makes Sam---repetition. Sam lives a good life by working at Starbucks, (prominently featured throughout the film) and having friends whom, like himself, have something extra to deal with every day. Sam ends up with something extra special to deal with, as his girlfriend gives birth to a daughter and then promptly abandons both of them. Sam learns when to feed the baby, how to diaper her and other essentials of life through trial and error, plus his multitude of friends. One is a lady (Dianne Weist) in his apartment building who tells him by naming television programs, when the baby should be feed (end of I Love Lucy, beginning of Hogan's Heroes). It is only when the daughter goes to school and doesn't reach her potential (who wants to be smarter than dad?) that problems start. The authorities place the daughter in a foster home (Laura Dern) and Sam wants her back. Enter Michelle Pfeiffer (What Lies Beneath) as the attorney who takes the case pro bono.

I Am Sam would be an average film if it were not for the performances of Sean Penn and Michelle Pfeiffer. With a frozen face and hand gestures, Penn so in character, you believe in him. At first, Pfeiffer is such a ditz in her high-powered attorney's office; she seems a caricature of a busy attorney, but stay with her. She inhabits the role and soon, the wide smile loses some of its luster, the hair-do falls, the language becomes spicy and the attorney is a real person. The transformation is wonderfully done and is a lesson in acting.

As for the rest of the cast, Dianne Weist has an interesting role, a woman who hasn't left her apartment in years, but it is not fully realized. Pfeiffer's son, who looks sad and pensive, isn't given much to do, either. Laura Dern (Novocaine) has brief screen time and gives it all she's got as the foster mother who cares deeply for her charge. Dakota Fanning as the child Lucy Diamond is a charmer.

I Am Sam explores parenting issues and whether two parents are better than one parent who truly, deeply cares for the child. Should the system take upon itself taking a child away from a parent? What is considered child endangerment? What I.Q. should a parent have? And just what constitutes love? Deep issues for a film and adequately handled by I Am Sam. Of course, there are plot holes here. I would have loved to have had the Weist character's past, or the relationship between Pfeiffer and her traveling husband explored. Even Laura Dern's motivations for opening her house to foster children would be interesting, but all this is hinted at. I Am Sam has another thing going for it, a soundtrack replete with Beatle's songs, most timely considering the recent death of George Harrison.

Copyright 2002 Marie Asner 1/6/2002

Expectations are strange things, and if critics were honest they'd acknowledge their effects more often. A movie can be a solid work that achieves its goals, but if you were hoping for more you'll leave the theater disappointed. On the flip side, a merely mediocre movie can be a pleasant surprise if you weren't expecting much.

I mention this because I actually enjoyed I Am Sam, the new movie starring Sean Penn as a learning-disabled father. My friend Garth saw the film last week at a sneak preview and literally loathed it (I shudder to think what his reaction would've been if he had actually had to pay for it). Other reviewers have also lined up to excoriate this button-pushing tale. So when I saw it this past weekend, I was prepared for two hours of schmaltz. Turns out I left with a smile on my face.

Sean Penn, who's made a name for himself as a striking actor who takes chances in difficult parts (Dead Man Walking is the best example), seems a strange choice for this heart-warming story. Borrowing equal parts Rain Man and Forrest Gump, his slightly autistic, considerably disabled character finds himself a single father when his "girlfriend" runs away shortly after giving birth. Sam, who names his daughter Lucy after a Beatles' song, is ill-prepared for this new phase of life. But a reclusive next-door neighbor (played by Dianne Wiest, Bullets over Broadway) and a circle of other learning-disabled friends help him adjust.

Things turn sour, however, on Lucy's seventh birthday. Her teachers are concerned about Lucy's development with Sam as a father; and after Sam has a strange brush with the law, they decide to seek custody of the girl and find "more suitable" parents. Sam doesn't have much in the brains department but he does have love, and Lucy (Dakota Fanning, "E.R.") loves him back with heartfelt passion. So he tries to find a lawyer who will help him keep his little girl. In strides lovely Rita (Michelle Pfieffer, Age of Innocence), a high-powered lawyer who's shamed into taking Sam's case and, of course, slowly comes to realize the power of love.

If all of this sounds incredibly saccharine and manipulative, you're right.Sam's friends are lovably dysfunctional and on hand to offer cutely inappropriate behavior when the story calls for it. Those who doubt Sam aren't quite evil incarnate, but we're certainly not supposed to root for them, either. And yet again, Hollywood affirms that the meek will inherit the earth, or at least show the rich-and-busy how important it is to slow
down and smell their coffee (courtesy of Starbucks, of course, which must've paid a mint for all this product placement).

But for all of the movie's faults, I found myself moved. The relationship between Sam and Lucy is fantastic. Their love for each other is palpable and made me wish that I had a seven-year-old daughter, too. There are lots of hugs in I Am Sam, but I didn't mind. In fact, I wish the movie had steered away from the courtroom drama and given us more of Sam & Lucy. Sam's circle of friends also struck a lump in my throat, as their sense of community feels right. Even the strange pairing of Sam and Rita, which threatens to turn romantic at a couple points, wasn't too off-putting.

The acting in I Am Sam is functional, though hardly outstanding. Michelle Pfeiffer hasn't made a good movie in almost a decade, but she carries her no-nonsense part here with style. Dakota Fanning, who has the cute little pixie thing down, is great as Lucy, though at times she seems to be auditioning for "Dawson's Creek." Sean Penn also has his moments where he's not quite believable, but those are outweighed by his many strong scenes. You start to accept that Sam is both disabled and yet capable of being a good father. This makes the film's ending, though highly implausible and astoundingly manipulative, still seem like a natural conclusion.

I didn't expect much from I Am Sam and honestly there isn't much there, but I enjoyed myself nonetheless. So a big thank you to Garth and friends for helping me to set the bar low enough that even I Am Sam could hurdle it. 

J. Robert Parks 1/29/2002