By EWAN McDONALD
(Herald rating: * * )
Sean Penn is — no argument — the finest actor of his generation. And the worst politician. Come on, Sean, what exactly were you trying to prove with that one-night stand in Baghdad?
Director (The Indian Runner, The Crossing Guard, The Pledge) and three-times
Oscar-nominated actor (Dead Man Walking, Sweet And Lowdown and now this), Penn's greatest problem is that his performance is often far better than the material he chooses.
Here he plays Sam, who has the IQ of a 7-year-old and is trying to raise Lucy, his 8-year-old daughter with a homeless, long-gone woman. Sam loves two things, the Beatles and Lucy, named for Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, but he is beginning to realise that love isn't quite all you need.
Sometimes Lucy (Dakota Fanning in a Haley Joel Osment-grade debut) has to help him with her homework. Lucy decides to stop learning to read so she won't get ahead of her dad, whose mental age is a year behind hers. Enter the villains, the Department of Children and Family Services, who try to take Lucy from Sam and place her with a foster family.
On Sam's side, sort of, is Rita (Michelle Pfeiffer), a pushy Beverly Hills lawyer who takes the case to prove to the people in her office that she's not a selfish bitch. And we're all off to court, although this time the "evil" prosecutor (Richard Schiff) seems to be the one who's making sense. The adoptive mother (Laura Dern), also appears to be a loving, sensitive woman who would be great for Lucy. And Sam seems to agree with that.
I Am Sam is a Hollywood movie, and the sentimental aim seems to convince us that Lucy should stay with Sam and his friends, played largely by special-needs people. But the other side makes better sense and the film's premise is flawed. Bit like Sean, sometimes.
* DVD features: movie (133min); commentary with director/co-writer Jessie
Nelson; Becoming Sam
feature; deleted/alternative scenes; press kit, trailer.
