Nelson and co-writer Kristine Johnson researched the issues facing adults with intellectual disabilities by visiting the non-profit organization L.A. GOAL (Greater Opportunities for the Advanced Living). They subsequently cast two actors with disabilities, Brad Silverman and Joe Rosenberg, in key roles.[3] The film's title is derived from the lines "I am Sam / Sam I am" of the book Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss, which is included in the movie.
The film received polarized reviews from critics and audiences. It grossed over $97 million at the box office, against a production budget of $22 million.[1][2] For his role as Sam, Penn was highly acclaimed and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor at the 74th Academy Awards in 2002. The film launched the career of Dakota Fanning and her younger sister Elle Fanning, who were then seven and almost three years old respectively. Dakota Fanning became the youngest person to be nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award.
Plot
In 1993, Sam Dawson, a Starbucks barista with an intellectual disability, becomes the single father of Lucy Diamond Dawson, named after the Beatles song "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds", following her abandonment by her mother, a homeless woman with whom Sam had a sexual encounter. Sam is well-adjusted and has a supportive group of friends with disabilities as well as a kind, agoraphobic neighbor, Annie, who takes care of Lucy when Sam cannot. Nearly seven years later in 2001, Sam provides a loving place for precocious Lucy, though she soon surpasses his mental capacity and ability. Other children bully her for having an intellectually disabled father, and she becomes too embarrassed to accept that she is more advanced than he is.
In danger of losing child custody, Sam gets advice from his friends and also hires a lawyer, Rita Harrison, whose absorption in her work and neglect of her son reveals her to also struggle with her role as a parent. In an attempt to prove that she is not cold, Rita agrees to take on Sam's case pro bono. As they work to secure Sam's rights, Sam helps Rita see her own life anew. This includes encouraging her to leave her philandering husband and repair her fractious relationship with her son.
At the trial, due to pressure from the prosecutor, Sam breaks down after becoming convinced he is not capable of raising Lucy. Afterward, she resides in a foster home with Miranda "Randy" Carpenter but tries to convince Sam to help her run away. Sam moves so he is near Lucy, so she continually leaves in the middle of the night to go to his apartment, though he immediately returns her. The foster parents, though, decide not to adopt her as they had planned, and return her to Sam. Randy assures him that she will tell the judge he is the best parent for Lucy. In turn, Sam asks Randy if she will help him raise Lucy because he feels she needs a mother figure.
The final scene depicts a soccer game, in which Sam referees and Lucy participates as a player. In attendance are Lucy's former foster family, Sam's friend group, and a newly single Rita with her son.
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 36% based on reviews from 146 critics, with an average rating of 4.8/10. The site's consensus reads: "Not only does the manipulative I Am Sam oversimplify a complex issue, it drowns it in treacle."[5] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 28 of 100 based on 33 reviews, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[6] Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade "A" on a scale of A to F.[7]
A. O. Scott of The New York Times wrote that "I Am Sam is not a bad movie, and its intentions are unimpeachable. But its sentimentality is so relentless and its narrative so predictable that the life is very nearly squeezed out of it."[8]Variety wrote: "Undone by its best intentions, I Am Sam is an especially insipid example of the Hollywood message movie".[9]Roger Ebert wrote that "The lesson 'I Am Sam' wants to teach us is, 'All you need is love.' This is not quite strictly true. Sam loves his daughter more than anyone else, and she loves him, but it will take more than love for him to see her through grade school and adolescence and out into the world. Since the movie does not believe this, it has a serious disagreement with most of the audience." Ebert also criticized the morality tale character of the movie, saying that "You can't have heroes and villains when the wrong side is making the best sense."[10]
Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times reviewed it positively as a "most inviting and accessible film that turns upon a mental condition that most people would prefer not to think about."[11]Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle commended Sean Penn for his performance: "Penn's accuracy, his lack of condescension or sentiment, and his willingness to inhabit his character without any implicit commentary take what might have been the equivalent of an inflated TV movie and elevate it to the level of art."[12]David Denby of The New Yorker found Michelle Pfeiffer to be the standout: "Pfeiffer, enormously likable in the role, almost saves the movie."[13]
