I just watched "I am Sam" for the fifth time, and it still makes me teary and all.
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. He works at Starbucks and is obsessed with the Beatles, naming his daughter Lucy Diamond Dawson, after one of the Beatles' songs. 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. This began when her teacher started getting concerned about her; Lucy was intentionally holding herself back to avoid looking smarter than her father.
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.. Sam teaches Rita that love is really all you need.
It's a really touching story, about the struggles of a mentally-handicapped man, fighting to get his daughter back. I Am Sam is a powerful, emotional film about love, parenthood and the bonds of family. Most importantly, I think it really shows us that what we "normal" people worry about and struggle for, are really quite superficial. Sam's friends were all mentally-handicapped, but they showed more love than I have ever seen in any other "normal" people. They were really supportive of each other, and stood by Sam through it all. They showed the meaning of true friends, and the love that true friends have for each other... that no matter what, they would still stand by each other, and be there for each other.
I cannot put into words how much this story touches my heart every time I watch it. It shows that mentally-handicapped people, who are untainted by greed, envy, and other forms of vices, are really more human than a lot of people out there. They have no evil intentions, no facades, no pretense,.. just pure human love.
If you have the time, you should watch this movie. Sam also likes reading Dr. Seuss's "green eggs and ham" because the words are simple for him to read, and he reads it to Lucy all the time.
I do so like them in a box.
I do so like them with a fox.
I do so like them in a house.
I do so like them with a mouse.
I do so like them here or there.
I do so like them anywhere.
I do so like green eggs and ham.
I do so like them, Sam-I-am!
The title of this movie, as you can see, was inspired by that book.
Sam, Lucy, and Sam's friends...a tribute to the Beatles.