I Am Sam

1701 Words4 Pages

I Am Sam is the compelling story of Sam Dawson (Sean Penn), a mentally-challenged father raising his daughter Lucy (Dakota Fanning) with the help of an extraordinary group of friends. As Lucy turns seven and begins to intellectually surpass her father, their close bond is threatened when their situation comes under the scrutiny of a social worker who wants Lucy placed in foster care.

Faced with a seemingly unwinnable case, Sam vows to fight the legal system and forms an unlikely alliance with Rita Harrison (Michelle Pfeiffer), a high-powered, self-absorbed attorney who initially takes his case pro bona as a challenge from her colleagues. On the surface the two couldn't be further apart, but in reality they are subtly similar. Sam's compulsive nature mirrors Rita's more socially acceptable obsessive-compulsive nature. Her manic need for perfection and success alienates her from her own son and has been slowly destroying her self-worth.

Together they struggle to convince the system that Sam deserves to get his daughter back and, in the process, fuse a bond that results in a unique testament to the power of unconditional love.

New Line Cinema presents I Am Sam, directed by Jessie Nelson from a screenplay by Nelson and Kristine Johnson. Nelson also produces along with Edward Zwick, Marshall Herskovitz and Richard Solomon of the Bedford Falls Company. The executive producers are Claire Rudnick Polstein, Michael De Luca and David Scott Rubin. The film stars Sean Penn, Michelle Pfeiffer, Dianne Wiest, Dakota Fanning, Richard Schiff, Loretta Devine and Laura Dern. Rounding out the cast as Sam's loyal group of friends are Doug Hutchison, Stanley DeSantis, Brad Allan Silverman and Joseph Rosenberg.

The film features a soundt...

... middle of paper ...

... some cases where the child was harmed and now she always recommends what she hopes is best for the child. Of course once she makes a decision, she doesn't ever second-guess herself. She doesn't want to take a closer look at Sam, but she believes she's doing the right thing."

As the moment of truth grows near, Sam and Rita form an unlikely bond. "What you have to see is that while Rita seems like she should be the most sane person in the movie, she really is the most insane and on the brink of falling apart," Pfeiffer explains. "Sam has this sense of honesty and truth that just busts her. Other people are intimidated and afraid of her, but Sam doesn't feel any of that. She has closed off her heart, but completely by surprise, he finds a way in."

"The thing to me is that Sam's disability doesn't in any way diminish his individuality or his humanity," says Penn.

Open Document