I am Sam (New Line Platinum Series)
by Jessie Nelson
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DVD details
Actor: Dakota Fanning, Dianne Wiest, Michelle Pfeiffer, Richard Schiff, Sean PennDirector: Jessie Nelson
Brand: NEW Line Home Video
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround; English (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 134 minutes
Published: 2002-06-01
DVD Release Date: 2002-06-18
Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: New Line Home Video
Product features:
- Condition: Used, Very Good
- Format: DVD
- Anamorphic; Closed-captioned; Color; DVD; Widescreen; NTSC
DVD Reviews of I am Sam (New Line Platinum Series)
DVD Review: Mystery Training, or "I'll see your `Other Sister' and raise you a `Flowers for Algernon'"
Summary: 2 Stars
"I am Sam" is both repellent and fascinating. It took me an entire day to finish the film. I'd watch a few minutes 'til Sam did something so cringe-worthy I'd shut off the TV out of reflex, then be drawn back an hour later because I had to see what happened next, even though I was well aware I was watching dishonest, manipulative garbage. I guess I was fascinated by how pretty they were able to package it.
Sean Penn is often able to extract and convey the humanity in misunderstood, unpopular people, helping balance out the generally insensitive status quo; other times he's empathetic to a fault.
Unlike Dustin Hoffman's detached but strangely engaged portrayal of autistic Raymond in "Rain Man," I was always aware of Penn steering Sam (who is described as retarded with autistic tendencies), manipulating him to match the film's theme of "All you need is love." The theme is a nice sentiment, but pragmatically irresponsible given the subject matter.
Penn's Sam Dawson isn't as irresponsible as Penn's Sam Bicke in the semi-true, "The Assassination of Richard Nixon," which had Penn as a humiliated, desperate everyman, leaving out important history about the real Bicke (Byck) that drove him to the assassination attempt. (Without knowing this it's a far more compelling performance.)
"I am Sam" does a big disservice omitting important information about the circumstances that led to Sam Dawson making a baby.
The film starts with close-ups of Sam obsessively organizing sweeteners and cups at Starbucks, complimenting people on their coffee choices. His boss George tells him it's time for him to go. Sam gets excited and runs over to the hospital where a woman is giving birth. A nurse asks him, "You the one responsible for this?" And Sam says he's sorry.
Afterward, the mother abandons Sam and the newborn, saying "I just needed a place to sleep." I guess you could infer it was the mother's idea to make the baby, which could be supported by a scene later in the film where Sam is in a food court conversing with a woman, oblivious he's being propositioned -- but this wasn't enough to ease my concern.
For seven years, Sam is able to take care of his daughter Lucy (Dakota Fanning, "Hounddog") without too many problems. He named her after the Beatles song "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds" because he's a big Beatles fan. Their music plays a prominent part in the film, with the soundtrack primarily comprised of contemporary artists (Eddie Vedder, Sheryl Crow, The Black Crowes to name a few) covering their songs.
Sam has a few fellow mentally challenged friends who help him with Lucy. He also has Annie (Diane Wiest) as Lucy's godmother, an agoraphobic neighbor who helps answer Sam's many child rearing questions, which include giving him a feeding schedule based on Nikelodeon's TV schedule:
Starting with "'Hogan's Heroes' Then again, wait until "I Dream of Jeanie,' and then `I Love Lucy.'"
His friends' main activities are going to IHOP and "Video Night." One of them is obsessed with Victor Flemming, another guy is paranoid, and another one really wants to see "Kramer vs. Kramer."
One night, Lucy wants to go to Big Boy instead of IHOP. Sam throws a fit when the waitress tells him they don't have French pancakes. "Ask Bob! Bob's Big Boy! Because the customer is always right! The customer is always right! The customer is always right!" Lucy is embarrassed.
Cut to a scene of Sam dressed up as a young Beatle, flailing his arms to the Wallflowers cover of "I'm Looking Through You" with an embarrassed Lucy and her schoolmates during a Halloween party.
Lucy (Dakota Fanning, "Hounddog") is taken from Sam during a birthday party by a social worker (Loretta Devine from TV's "Boston Public") after Sam is determined to have the IQ of a seven year old. The social workers are concerned Sam won't have the ability to take care of Lucy when she gets older.
Sam finds a fancy lawyer named Rita (Michelle Pfeifer, who is still quite the Ladyhawke) and stalks her and manages to quote both "Lovely Rita" and "Michelle" to her. Rita ignores him until some of her colleagues mock her when she says she has considered doing pro bono work before.
The concern about Sam's baby-making is brought up once: while questioning neighbor Annie, the prosecution asks her about Sam's competency when puberty comes. Annie says he would have as much difficulty as any other father - she's lived a long life and has observed all kinds of fathers. The prosecution then asks her: What about your father? The camera does one of those dolly/zooms like when the boy on the raft got eaten in "Jaws," and Annie quietly leaves the room.
Then Sam defends himself by quoting a courtroom scene from "Kramer vs Kramer" and loses the case.
But Rita convinces him to keep going.
As you've probably already noticed, the film has a strong supporting cast, which also includes Mary Steenburgen and Brent Spiner (Data from TV's "Star Trek: Next Generation" and cruise director Godwyn in "Out to Sea") in a brief appearance as a shoe salesman.
Laura Dern ("Rambling Rose") plays Randy Carpenter, Lucy's protective foster mother. She has a change of heart when Lucy won't stop sneaking out and visiting Sam. She agrees to be on Sam's side in court, and the film ends with the kids playing soccer and Sam giving Lucy (Dakota Fanning, "Hounddog") a big hug after she scores with Aimee Mann and Michael Penn's cover of "Two of Us" on the soundtrack.
I guess I just wanted more interaction between lawyer Rita and Turner, the prosecutor. As it is, "I am Sam" feels as if the filmmakers cheated the ending and tried to blind the audience with shmaltz.
Which brings me to the cinematography. Elliot Davis uses small zooms and jerks to emphasize every emotion, as if with every movement he's saying, "Feel this, because I know you can't without me!" Calm down, Elliot.
The DVD features audio commentary, a documentary "Becoming Sam," which wasn't as insightful as I'd hoped it would be, deleted/alternate scenes, which I didn't bother watching, and some cool folding/unfolding origami menus, which were probably my favorite thing about the whole disc.
The soundtrack is better than the movie. I suspect people will probably buy more of it than the "Hounddog" soundtrack. Personally, I'm waiting for the "Do the Right Thing" CD reissue, featuring Radio Raheem's "Fight the Power" m-m-m-mash-up with "Fairytale of New York" and "Close to You," topped with Bosco.
Description of I am Sam (New Line Platinum Series)
Michelle Pfeiffer and Sean Penn give career-defining performances in this humorous and heart-warming film about a mentally-challenged father who enlists the aid of a high-powered attorney to help him regain custody of his daughter. An all-star supporting cast and a spectacular soundtrack complete this unforgettable story of life, love and laughter.DVD Features:
Audio Commentary:Filmmaker Commentary - With Director / Co-screenwriter Jessie Nelson
DVD ROM Features:Script-to-Screen Link to Original Website Hot Spot
Deleted Scenes:Deleted and Alternate Scenes with optional Director commentary
Documentary:Original Documentary: Becoming Sam
Other:Theatrical Press Kit DTS sound
Theatrical Trailer
I Am Sam makes you laugh, cry, and recoil all at the same time. Perhaps no other film of recent memory has epitomized the shameless sentimentality of Hollywood as succinctly as director and screenwriter Jessie Nelson's story of a mentally challenged man fighting to retain custody of his 7-year-old daughter. Sam (Sean Penn), who has the mental age of 7, wipes down tables at a Los Angeles Starbucks and takes good care of his daughter Lucy (Dakota Fanning), who was left with him shortly after birth by a homeless woman. Sam has gotten by just fine with a little help from his friends, including his eccentric neighbor (Dianne Wiest) and a lovable group of similarly challenged friends, but a series of misunderstandings leaves Sam fighting to get Lucy back from the state. Sam's lawyer, Rita Harrison (Michelle Pfeiffer), is an overly ambitious woman whose life is soon transformed by proximity to Sam's brimming humanity. Sean Penn is, as usual, wholeheartedly committed to his role and turns in an admirable, if overtly affected performance. However, I Am Sam, with all its earnest charm, reaches an emblematic low when Sam, a character apparently devoid of any authentic sentiment, delivers a courtroom speech memorized from Kramer vs. Kramer as the film's finale. --Fionn Meade