Sam Dawson (Sean Penn) works at Starbucks. He refills and sorts the sugar containers, mops the floor after people spill and arranges the various knickknacks. Sam even compliments customers on their “excellent choice” of coffee. Most people would consider the job a little mundane, menial, even a meager living; and they’d be right. But for Sam, who has the mental capacity of a seven-year-old, his job is enthralling. He hopes that one day, he’ll be able to stand behind the big espresso machine and make coffee just like a regular guy. When “I Am Sam” opens, we see Sam busy at work, when his boss announces “It’s time!”
It’s time for Sam to head to the hospital and witness the birth of his child, whose mother, a homeless woman, abandons Sam minutes after leaving the hospital. Faced with this life-altering situation, Sam goes home. In his small apartment, Sam begins the enormously difficult task of raising his daughter, Lucy Diamond (Dakota Fanning), whom he named after the Beatles song “Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds.” Throughout the first half of the movie, montages of Sam and Lucy through the first seven years of her life show us the trials and tribulations of both parent and child. Various covers of Beatles songs accompany all of this humorous and sentimental imagery. Sam is a Beatles connoisseur, and, when at a loss for an answer, often refers to a lyric or detail of the band to explain his logic. During these first years of Lucy’s life, Sam is helped by a unique support group of five mentally challenged friends and his agoraphobic neighbor, Annie.
The film takes off in its second half, when Lucy is taken into protective custody by Social Services. Enter Rita Harrison (Michelle Pfeiffer), a high-powered LA lawyer who, because of her name, is seen by Sam as an omen. After much pestering on Sam’s part, Rita agrees to be his lawyer pro bono. Predictably enough, throughout their legal battle to regain custody of Lucy, Rita learns the importance of taking time out to enjoy life, appreciate family and friends and be a better person. Rita the rich lawyer is pitted against Turner (Richard Schiff), the stereotypical bureaucratic lawyer. She flies into the courtroom, leather attaché in hand, fresh out of her Porsche. He lectures about how he’s there every day, fighting for the little people, and yeah, we’ve all heard that one before.
The main problem with “I Am Sam” is the writing. If Jessie Nelson (who also directed the film) and Kristine Johnson had focused their story as much as Sam focuses on organizing sugar, the whole movie would have benefited. Too many subplots are introduced and never developed. When Annie comes out of her apartment for the first time in 25 years and takes the stand to vouch for Sam’s parenting abilities, it is mentioned that she had an abusive father. The movie shows Annie getting out of Rita’s car in the next scene, and that’s it for Annie. We don’t see or hear from her again until her name pops up in the credits. Turner, the government lawyer we’re supposed to root against, tells us how hard he works for the welfare of children. But, we never see enough evidence of that work to really empathize with him. Even Sam has a revelation on the stand, for we learn that, as a child, his parents put him in an institution where he was abused. However, the story never elaborates on this or shows how or even if it has affected Sam.
“I Am Sam” also tugs on every heartstring in the audience. Lucy is a beautiful, blonde-haired, blue-eyed angel. She’s fiercely intelligent and devoted to her father. Even when Lucy is embarrassed by his behavior in public, her big blue eyes staring into the audience convey the mortification she feels, a longing to run away, and a love for her dad that nobody else could have. Sam’s friends, each with his or her own challenges, lighten up serious moments. One character in particular seems to be doing a bad impression of Dustin Hoffman in “Rain Man”; it’s been done, and in a much better film. The sad part about the comic relief they offer is that you find yourself laughing at them, not with them. Even in Sam’s most awkward and embarrassing moments, you feel yourself cringing and wanting to just make him stop, at least for Lucy’s sake.
The best thing about “I Am Sam” is its soundtrack. Featuring Beatles covers by the likes of Amiee Mann, Michael Penn, Ben Harper, Sheryl Crow and Ben Folds, the director perfectly chose each song to fit the mood of the scenes. However, a great soundtrack does not a great movie make, and “I Am Sam” relies too heavily on its actors’ talents and gives them a poorly constructed script with which to work. B-
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