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I'm a girl, so I'm allowed to admit I cried during this one. Machismo or not, I bet I would have seen some misty male eyes in the theatre had I bothered to look. I Am Sam is a rare movie that's touching, funny, and heartwarming.
Sean Penn is Sam Dawson, a mentally challenged single father. The reason I say "is" and not "plays" is that Penn does such a brilliant job in this role, it is as though he actually becomes Sam, in much the same way that Tom Hanks became Forrest Gump. For the entire length of the movie, he never slippped from his character for a second. He was so convincing and believable, I half expected him to sound like Sam when he interviewed on Oprah Winfrey.
Despite its ingenuity, Penn's performance is not the only standout one in this film. Michelle Pfeiffer is inspired in her role as a driven, frazzled, neurotic ultra-successful lawyer with a suffering home life. Several of the supporting roles are played by actors with mental disabilities, which only adds to the richness of the cast. And Dakota Fanning is captivating as Lucy, the seven-year-old who knows her daddy is "different" but loves him anyway and wants to fight not to be separated from him.
The main problem with this movie is that it requires a significant amount of suspension of disbelief. Are we really to believe that a man with Sam's mental capacity was able to raise and take care of his daughter singlehandedly for seven years, without major catastrophe? His job would hardly be able to cover his rent, let alone child care expenses, and he lacked many basic skills necessary to raise any child, let alone such a well-adjusted one as the girl in the movie.
However, if you can turn this off for a couple of hours, there aren't too many viewing experiences that are more enjoyable.
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