Reel Critics

Allen MacDonald

Can a mentally disabled man care for his normal 7-year-old daughter

once she has surpassed him in intelligence?

“I Am Sam” offers up this intriguing question, then sets out to answer

it with honesty, humor and compassion. Director Jessie Nelson doesn’t

give us easy answers. He treats the issue with all the complexity it

deserves.

Sean Penn brings an easy authenticity to the role of Sam. Penn

inhabits this role completely. The first half-hour establishes how Sam

fathered and came to be sole guardian of Lucy (Dakota Fanning). With

guidance from an eccentric neighbor (Dianne Wiest), and a support group

of mentally challenged friends, Sam conditions his memory to adapt to the

responsibilities of parenthood.

Infants and small children thrive on strict regimens. Once Sam learns

a pattern through repetitive reinforcement, he follows it with meticulous

devotion. However, when Lucy develops beyond her father’s mental

capacity, the complexity of raising an older child shakes the foundation

of Sam’s carefully ordered world.

For the first time, Lucy becomes aware of how differently the world

sees her father. Uncomfortable with the unwanted attention he draws to

her, she begins to feel ashamed of him. As a result, Lucy disengages from

school, afraid of making her father feel stupid.

Social services becomes involved and decides Lucy should be placed in

foster care. Enter Rita (Michelle Pfeiffer), a high rolling, Type-A

lawyer with a horror-show home life. Rita agrees to take Sam’s case pro

bono for no other reason than to show colleagues she is not as shallow as

she seems.

What is so striking about “I Am Sam” is its confident sense of itself.

All the cinematic components flow and complement each other. Visually, it

breaks traditional form -- blue tones typically imply a cold world, here

they create a strong juxtaposition with Sam’s warm heart. The camera work

and sound design filter the world through Sam’s perspective -- erratic,

often overwhelming and moving much faster than he can process.

The sound track takes a unique approach -- Sam adores the Beatles. He

expresses complicated emotions with Beatle analogies (he named his

daughter after “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds,” chose his lawyer based on

“Lovely Rita”). This could’ve been a cheap story device, but it’s

handled with understated care. Beatles songs guide us through Sam’s

emotional journey; each song has been covered by a contemporary artist

whose interpretation tailors it to fit the mood of the scene.

“I Am Sam” falters near the end: Caving under stress, Rita breaks

down, telling Sam that just because she was born smart doesn’t mean she

hasn’t made stupid decisions with her life. This is sloppy, forced

melodrama. The movie is smarter than this. Sam is the main character,

which renders this scene as nothing more than an Oscar bid. Also, a few

times, Sam’s I.Q. seems to improve when it suites the need of particular

scenes.

Pfeiffer does her best with a thankless role. Rita is a broadly

sketched character -- career driven, insensitive and materialistic.

The implied irony is too easy: Sam is a far more loving parent than

Rita, but no one would dare take her son away from her.

The most poignant scenes are between Sam and Lucy. Although some

traditional parent/child roles are reversed, they care deeply for each

other. Their love bonds them together, making each incomplete without the

other. As the movie points out, love knows nothing of intelligence -- one

has nothing to do with the other. “I Am Sam” celebrates love, inspiring

the audience to do the same.

* ALLEN MacDONALD, 29, is currently working toward his master’s degree

in screenwriting from the American Film Institute in Los Angeles.