I Am (III) (2010)

Director Tom Shadyac speaks with intellectual and spiritual leaders about what's wrong with our world and how we can improve both it and the way we live in it.

Director:

Tom Shadyac

Stars:

Ray Anderson, Noam Chomsky, Desmond Tutu

1 win.

Cast

Credited cast:
Ray Anderson	...	Himself
Marc Ian Barasch	...	Himself
Coleman Barks	...	Himself
Noam Chomsky	...	Himself
John Francis	...	Himself
Thom Hartmann	...	Himself
Chris Jordan	...	Himself
Dacher Keltner	...	Himself
Rollin McCraty	...	Himself
Lynne McTaggart	...	Herself
Daniel Quinn	...	Himself
Dean Radin	...	Himself
Elisabet Sahtouris	...	Herself
Marilyn Schlitz	...	Herself
Richard Shadyac	...	Himself

Storyline

Director Tom Shadyac speaks with intellectual and spiritual leaders about what's wrong with our world and how we can improve both it and the way we live in it.

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Plot Keywords:

yogurt | technician | two word title | love | spirituality | 

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Taglines:

What if the solution to the world's problems was right in front of us all along?

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Genres:

Documentary

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Official Sites:

Shady Acres Entertainment [us]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

February 2011 (USA)

Also Known As:

Ben

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$39,690 (USA) (11 March 2011)

Gross:

$1,571,355 (USA) (1 July 2011)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Flying Eye Productions, Homemade Canvas Productions, Shady Acres Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

78 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

Tom Shadyac described making the documentary as "freeing", giving himself complete creative control along with his small crew.

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Quotes

Tom Shadyac: An ocean, a rainforest, the human body, are all co-operatives. The redwood tree doesn't take all the soil and nutrients, just what it needs to grow. A lion doesn't kill every gazelle, just one. We have a term for something in the body when it takes more than its share, we call it: cancer.

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Connections

Features Bruce Almighty (2003)

User Reviews

Interesting movie

While another review described this movie as "liberal," I must say that while it may be, it still had a lot of interesting information in it. At one point in my life, I thought Rush Limbaugh was too liberal, but yet I still enjoyed this movie and have watched it several times.

There were several turn offs, yes. The New Age vibe the movie gives off is one of them. However, this is also a plus, because New Agers must be one of the last groups in America that have an upbeat outlook for the future. I may not agree with them, yet it is totally refreshing to see what is an unusual stance in this day of "doomsday preppers."

The other negative of the film is the kind of glowing nostalgic view of Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King. Yes, both of them may have really done some good in some way, but there were a lot of dark things about Mandela that were pushed under the carpet, and making him look like he could walk on water really does a disservice to history. The same with King, who in some ways did help move America to the "left" politically, but yes, he did accomplish some things that were needed in America.

That being said, there are some really positive things about the movie. The look at America as a consumer-based society. The look at community versus individualism is interesting. Really, all of the interviews in the film are pretty interesting and the movie is worth watching just for this reason.

Lynne Mctaggart, the author of one of my favorite books, "The Field," is interviewed in the film. For anyone wanting to look more at the scientific side of "I Am," I highly recommend getting a copy of "The Field."

I will add as a side note, that while it isn't totally fitting to "I Am," I recommend the book, "The Happiness Hypothesis: Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom," by Jonathan Haidt. Haidt expands on some of the same issues, discussing community versus individualism, consumerism, etc., and even discusses some of the political views that affect these topics.

Rather than it being one or the other, Haidt points out that both Left and Right have some truth to them, and that America is better off because both sides exist.

I think that is how "I Am" should be viewed. There is some truth in it, and it should be watched even if you don't agree with every single minute of the movie.

In fact, I think people can grow from hearing different viewpoints even if they don't agree with them. In that respect, "I Am," offers a lot to think about, again, even if you don't agree with all of it.