|
When I saw the trailer for "I Am Sam", I was
expecting it to be one of the best films of the year. I
mean--come on--Sean Penn is a phenomenal actor and his work
usually has Oscar written all over it. And, the little
girl in the movie--Dakota Fanning--appeared to give one hell
of a performance for a child. Plus, thy used actual
mentally handicapped people for roles in the film. Oh
yeah, Michelle Pfeiffer is a babe. Anyway, I was
extremely disappointed with this film.
The
story centers around Sam Dawson, a mentally retarded man who
is trying to gain custody of his daughter Lucy (Dakota
Fanning). The obstacle--a hard driven foster mom, played
by Laura Dern. Who might he get to assist him in his
efforts? Why, none other than hard nosed attorney Rita,
played by Michelle Pfieffer. One of the best things
about this film is that director Jessie Nelson enlisted the
help of actual sufferers from mental retardation to co-star in
this flick. Good casting job.
Another plus for this film are the many Beatles references.
Sam named his daughter Lucy Diamond Dawson, after the Beatles
song "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds". Also,
there is a beautiful shot of Sam, Lucy, and three of their
friends walking across a road very much like Abbey Road, all
holding balloons. There is no doubt that Jessie Nelson
is a talented director. That's not the problem with this
picture.
The
problem is Sean Penn. Now, I love Sean Penn and I firmly
believe he is one of the greatest actors out there today.
Alas, I was disappointed with his performance in this film,
mostly because it was simple. When you think back to
other characters he has portrayed, like the death row
inmate in "Dead Man Walking" and the famous guitar
player in "Sweet & Lowdown", you realize that
playing a mentally retarded person is really not so tough--I
mean, come on, Adam Sandler and Carrot Top play one on a
regular basis.
Watching Penn speak and watching his motions and actions
aren't tugging at our heart strings because they look to much
like acting. Though it is not difficult to play a
mentally retarded person, it is almost impossible to make the
audience believe you are suffering from that affliction, thus
producing the 'that was so fake' response. The music is
lovely, the soundtrack being one of the best I have ever
purchased, and Dakota Fanning is great as Sam's daughter.
Also, it's nice to see Dianne Wiest back in cinema.
Though there were many things I liked about this film, I felt
too cheated to give it a higher review. "I Am
Sam". I was disappointed.
-- Billy
Ray (
2 out of 4 pops )
Talk
about this film with other Popkorn Junkies |
