Movie review--

I Am Sam just right touch of emotions
by Nick Nance, reporter

    Things happen in everyone’s life that makes that person unique.
How we handle those things in our life will make us stronger in future events.

   This theme is evident in Sean Penn’s new movie I Am Sam.
Penn plays Sam, a mentally challenged father raising his daughter Lucy, played by first-time actress Dakota Fanning.

   Each of the seemingly minor situations the two face become fun-filled laughable days that cause them to grow closer together.

   When Lucy’s school becomes concerned about her lack of desire to learn, officials attempt to place Lucy in a foster home.

   Then an over-worked and stressed caseworker begins the proceedings to remove Lucy from Sam’s care on her birthday.

   The day she turns 7, their struggle to stay together begins.
Sam pledges to Lucy and himself not to give up.

   Sam then desperately searches the yellow pages for a lawyer to help him in his quest to keep his daughter.

   Based on the size of her ad, he picks Rita Harrison (Michelle Pfeiffer), a self-absorbed mother and wife wrapped up in her work to avoid her personal problems.

   The three take on the legal system, and they learn more than they ever imagined they ever would.

   They face the tough by-the-book prosecutor, who thinks he is acting on the best interests of the child.

   Turner, the prosecutor (Richard Schiff), is perceived as the bad guy, but is acting on years of experience.

   He does his job based on this experience with a skewed negative perception of family love.

   Even those of us who put everything we can into what they do each day but are still considered average can’t fathom how difficult life seems to someone like Sam.

   Even with his struggles, Sam never complains about his life or what has happened.

   This movie offers a delightful insight into the life of a mentally challenged father and his struggles to live each day with his growing daughter.

   The inspirational story will leave audience members more thankful and appreciative of the small things in life.

   Penn and Pfeiffer, along with 7-year old newcomer Fanning, give us an intensely emotional film about love, parenthood and the bonds of family.

   I am Sam is a must-see movie for everyone.