I Am Sam (2001)
Storyline
Sam has the mental capacity of a 7-year-old. He 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 start to become a problem and the authorities take her away. Sam shames high-priced lawyer Rita into taking his case pro bono and in turn teaches her the value of love and family.
Directors
Cast
Dakota Fanning, Pamela Dunlap, Richard Schiff, Doug Hutchison, Marin Hinkle, Stanley DeSantis, Russ Fega, Elle Fanning, Loretta Devine, Mary Steenburgen, Michelle Pfeiffer, Sean Penn, Laura Dern, Brent Spiner, Kimberly Scott, Kathleen Robertson, R. D. Call, Ken Jenkins, Dianne Wiest, Wendy Phillips, Rosalind Chao, Eileen Ryan, Bobby Cooper, Scott Paulin, Brad Silverman, Joseph Rosenberg, Michael B. Silver, Mason Lucero, Kit McDonough, Chase MacKenzie Bebak, Rafer Weigel, Emiko Parise, David Nathan Schwartz, Karen Bankhead, Janet Adderley, Katie McGloin, Steven Maines, Dennis Fanning, David Poynter, Molly Gordon
Trailer
Reviews
75
Not about the justice or injustice of the legal system. Rather it's about the tragedy of Sam's predicament.
70
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.
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