I am Sam

There is a good reason why this story reaches your heart and the answer is good acting, cinematography and research. Some of the details are contained in the DVD bonus material. Click on All Access Pass in the main menu. Then select Original Documentation: Becoming Sam (42:30). From the next list, I recommend watching The Inspiration and Research (2:40) and The Look and Feel of the Film (12:25). But I suggest you view the movie first.

This story is about people caring for each other but more specifically about parental love in todays society involving Sam and his daughter Lucy. The plot point problem is Sams mental age of seven as his daughter becomes seven.

The film making team spent months with a group of retarded folks and the knowledge they gained shows in the portrayal of Sams problem. But this struggle is not just his struggle; its the struggle of every parent who must deal with a child who achieves more knowledge than the parent. The irony is that this is exactly what we claim we want for our children. In that sense, this film story is a metaphor for every parents problem.

Sams story is told in a cinemagraphic version of first person, present tense. The title sentence alerts us to this fact. And its the artistic use of colors, costumes, screenplay and editing that contributes to this kind of reality. However its the camera work that brings the story alive in first person and draws us in. We experience working at Starbucks and being in the courtroom just as Sam experiences it. The eye of the camera becomes Sams eyes and his struggle becomes our struggle.

These are the reasons why the story has emotional power and it is why my life-hardened eyes got teary with emotion watching this film and living the story vicariously. Routinely, I either ignore or become incensed by tear jerk storyline manipulation. However this film was a dramatization that had the reality strength of a documentary.

Sean Penn plays the lead role of Sam and Michelle Pfeiffer plays his highflying, fast-talking, stressed out attorney, Rita. Penn did an amazing job of creating Sam. I have missed his 22-year career, although I did see The Thin Red Line (1998). For me, he has never surfaced as an actor of any stature until now. He lives in Marin County with his wife and two children, although he was married earlier to Madonna for about five years.

Pfeiffer decided on an acting career while working as a supermarket checker in Southern California. She is bright, finished high school in three years, and beautiful, which helped and hindered her. She was cast for her looks rather than her acting ability. That began to change with Ladyhawke (1985) and then with a supporting actress Oscar nomination for her role in Dangerous Liaisons (1988). I will always remember her piano scene in The Fabulous Baker Boys (1989) singing Makin Whopee. At age 45 she is still beautiful and going strong.

Dakota Fanning plays Lucy, Sams daughter. She seems like a great little natural actress. I saw her in Sweet Home Alabama (2002).

Pfeiffer had to portray a concerned mom, a compassionate person with Sam and a tough attorney. It was a complex role, and she did everything well except the tough attorney. At one point I had the opportunity to interview and employ a hired gun attorney. Like Pfeiffers character, she always won but you knew it and you ducked when she said anything.

Reviewed June 12, 2003