moonspinner55 Review of I Am Sam

I Am Sam (2001)

Worthy sentiment, but the arty presentation is illogical and shallow...

[6/10 · 18 August 2006]

Sean Penn plays a mentally challenged man whose close relationship with his smart 7-year old daughter is threatened by the local legalese after an encounter with a prostitute (!) and is pursued in the courts. "I Am Sam" exists in an almost alternate reality: nobody talks the way normal people speak, and many of the situations are manipulated to be effective, yet bear no resemblance to real life. Penn's performance is occasionally agonizing, but he is also extremely sensitive, intentionally funny and sad; Dakota Fanning is likably wise-beyond-her-years as his little girl. All the performances are commendable, but the script is a tangled mass of ideas that either don't work or don't build momentum (the hooker episode is just a pretense to get us into court, and it's execrably staged). The arty presentation (with herky-jerky cinematography and colors that are either cartoon bright or steely blue) is another liability, but the finale is moving and Penn's energy nearly makes it all worthwhile. **1/2 from ****