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I Am Sam (2001) 7.4
Ratings:
7.4/10 from 85,261 users
Metascore: 28/100
Reviews: 418 user | 127 critic | 33 from Metacritic.com A mentally retarded man fights for custody of his 7-year-old daughter, and in the process teaches his cold-hearted lawyer the value of love and family. Director:Jessie Nelson |
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Cast
| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Sean Penn | ... | ||
| Michelle Pfeiffer | ... | ||
| Dakota Fanning | ... | ||
| Dianne Wiest | ... | ||
| Loretta Devine | ... | ||
| Richard Schiff | ... | ||
| Laura Dern | ... | ||
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Brad Silverman | ... |
Brad
(as Brad Allan Silverman)
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Joseph Rosenberg | ... | |
| Stanley DeSantis | ... | ||
| Doug Hutchison | ... | ||
| Rosalind Chao | ... |
Lily
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| Ken Jenkins | ... |
Judge Philip McNeily
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Wendy Phillips | ... |
Miss Wright
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| Mason Lucero | ... |
Conner Rhodes
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Plot Summary
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Plot Synopsis
Storyline
Sam Dawson has the mental capacity of a 7-year-old. He works at a Starbucks and is obsessed with the Beatles. He has a daughter with a homeless woman; she abandons them as soon as they leave the hospital. He names his daughter Lucy Diamond (after the Beatles song), and raises her. But as she reaches age 7 herself, Sam's limitations start to become a problem at school; she's intentionally holding back to avoid looking smarter than him. The authorities take her away, and Sam shames high-priced lawyer Rita Harrison into taking his case pro bono. In the process, he teaches her a great deal about love, and whether it's really all you need. Written by Jon Reeves <jreeves@imdb.com>
Taglines:
love is all you needGenres:
DramaParents Guide:
View content advisory »
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Details
Official Sites:
New Line Cinema [United States] | NZZ Online - Neue Zürcher Zeitung (German) | See more »Country:
USALanguage:
EnglishRelease Date:
25 January 2002 (USA) See more »Also Known As:
Yo soy Sam See more »Box Office
Budget:
$22,000,000 (estimated)Opening Weekend:
£151,079 (UK) (10 May 2002)Gross:
£456,635 (UK) (24 May 2002)Company Credits
Show detailed
company contact information
on
IMDbPro »
Technical Specs
Runtime:
Color:
ColorAspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1
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Written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney
Performed by Ben Folds
Ben Folds appears courtesy of Epic Records
See more »
Did You Know?
Trivia
As preparation for his role, Sean Penn visited L.A. Goal, a center in Los Angeles for Mentally Handicapped persons. See more »Goofs
When Sam and Lucy are being observed and they are talking, just before Lucy talks to the people observing her she turns her head towards the "camera". The next shot, she turns her head again before talking. See more »Quotes
Sam: You're going a little faster than everybody else. I was wondering if you noticed that.See more »
Soundtracks
"Golden Slumbers"Written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney
Performed by Ben Folds
Ben Folds appears courtesy of Epic Records
See more »
I haven't been a fan of Sean Penn's since Fast Times at Ridgemont High. Since that time, nearly all his films have left me flat. In fact, I nearly didn't watch this film since he was in it. What a loss it would have been if I'd missed it! I won't go into the story line since that's been reviewed a lot by others. The story is sort of a cliché'd one and has been done before, though not as well. The story isn't this film's strength anyway - it's the acting. Rarely have I seen a film with this much powerful acting. Penn's performance as Sam is brilliant! He must have studied autistic/mentally challenged people to pull this performance off. I also want to mention how good Michele Pfeiffer was in this. Her character starts out as a hard-hearted witch and ends up being very human, thanks to her exposure to Sam. The change in her is gradual, subtle and fun to watch. Sams friends, very well played by Brad Silverman, Joseph Rosenberg, Stanley DeSantis and Doug Hutchinson are very important support characters. Laura Dern gives a stellar performance as Randy. Dakota Fanning as Lucy very nearly steals the show. This little actress has quite a career ahead of her, I hope! This film is delicately balanced, and has a good bit of humor interspersed with parts that will have even the most insensitive of you reaching for a tissue. The film has a sort of a sappy (and somewhat surprising) outcome, but by this time any other ending would have been pretty much unacceptable to most people. This movie blew me away and I gave it a 9.