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I Am Sam

2001

Jessie Nelson

Sean Penn, Michelle Pfeiffer, Laura Dern, Dianne Wiest ...

7.4

38,288

Drama Sam Dawson (Sean Penn) is a developmentally disabled adult who has been singularly raising his daughter, Lucy for all of her seven years. Sam provides a fun and loving environment for Lucy, but it soon becomes apparent that she is intellectually surpassing him. When she begins intentionally stunting her own growth so as not to hurt her beloved father, a social worker intervenes, removing Lucy from her home and placing her in foster ... [+]

	Media	Author	Review
		A. O. Scott The New York Times	"'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."
		Peter Travers Rolling Stone	"Contrived, manipulative and shamelessly sentimental, this film is notable for the courageous reach of Sean Penn, who gives a bold, heartfelt performance"
		Roger Ebert Chicago Sun-Times	"Sean Penn does as well as can be expected with Sam, but it is painful to see an actor of his fire and range locked into a narrow range of emotional and intellectual responses (...) Rating: ★★ (out of 4)"
		Lou Lumenick New York Post	"It works magic because of Penn, who disappears into the character so thoroughly that even Dustin Hoffman ... would be jealous."
		Robert Koehler Variety	"Undone by its best intentions, I Am Sam is an especially insipid example of the Hollywood message movie."
		Kirk Honeycutt The Hollywood Reporter	"Raises important issues about the mental handicapped and nontraditional families that deserve a much smarter examination."
		Rita Kempley The Washington Post	"A well-intentioned but ludicrous tale."
		Mick LaSalle SFGATE	"Just when 'I Am Sam' seems about ready to descend into the very stickiness and sentimentality it had managed to avoid, the movie rescues itself"
		Rex Reed The New York Observer	"Another spectacular workout by the versatile and indefatigable Sean Penn"

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