I Am Sam | Full Movie | Movies Anywhere

Name: I Am Sam
Released: 2001-12-28
Cast: Sean Penn, Michelle Pfeiffer, Dianne Wiest, Dakota Fanning, Richard Schiff

I Am Sam

PG-13
2h 12m
2001

35%

age 14+

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Can a mentally challenged man be a good father? Sean Penn and Michelle Pfeiffer star in the moving story of unconditional love that grows between a man, his daughter and the attorney who accepts his case pro bono. When the mental capacity of Sam's (Penn) seven-year-old daughter exceeds his, the local department of social services removes her from his guardianship. But in his relentless battle to regain his daughter, Sam teaches his attorney (Pfeiffer) about love and guides her in her difficult relationship with her own son.

Rotten Tomatoes® Score

TOMATOMETER®

35%

Critics Consensus: Not only does the manipulative I Am Sam oversimplify a complex issue, it drowns it in treacle.

Reviews

TheIndependentCritic.com

Richard Propes

Penn's performance deserved the Oscar nomination.

Moving film with great acting seems too contrived.

Sean Penn gives the most professionally shameful, cruelly wrongheaded performance ever nominated for a Best Actor Oscar, while Jessie Nelson Kristine Johnson's script lives down to Penn's ugly ineptitude with idiotic catchphrases and product placement.

January 18, 2018

FULL REVIEW

Sacramento News & Review

Common Sense Media

age 14+

Common Sense Says

Moving but unrealistic film has mature themes, profanity.

What Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that I Am Sam portrays a mentally challenged man and his impassioned efforts to parent and retain custody of his precocious young daughter. There are several heartwrenching scenes during which Sam and Lucy are forcibly taken from one another. Other characters (two of whom are actually developmentally disabled) give insightful performances that may enlighten older kids and teens about people with special needs. A female character swears occasionally: one use of "f--k," along with numerous instances of "goddammit," "hell," and other mild epithets. Starbucks is prominently featured as Sam's workplace, and many other products and retailers are identified.