Would you hire a 7-year-old to baby-sit for you kid? NO! I didn’t think so. My boys are 9 and 12, and I still only do about an hour away to the grocery with neighbors watching, my parents at home a mile away, and a cell phone on my side. That’s no slam on seven-year-olds or on adults who functions at that age level. It’s just not reasonable to expect mature and adult behavior at that function level.

I Am Sam is about a mentally handicapped man named Sam who gets left holding the bag with a newborn when the homeless woman he got pregnant cuts out from the front door of the hospital. One of the neighbors tells him what time to feed the baby based on the times for TV shows on Nick at Night.

The crisis comes during the birthday party when little Lucy (who is named for Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds) cuts and runs after her dad gets upset with a kid who is not doing the “hide and surprise” thing right. The kid is a jerk, and he says that Lucy claimed to be adopted. Kids don’t always do or say what you expect. Grown ups need to be able to handle those moments.

Social Services was at the party, since Sam had gotten chatty with a prostitute and suggested that she could be a mother to Lucy. He was hauled off to jail where they figured out he was not smart enough to figure out that he was talking to a hooker. The police were worried enough to call Social Services, so they could play heavy and pull this cute little girl out of a situation where she could already read at a higher level than her dad. It appears that this is the only mistake he makes in 7 years, but that sure sounds odd when this nice man is functionally a child.

Sam finds a lawyer in the phone book with the help of his MR friends. They pick based on the size of the ad. A temp worker conveniently set up an appointment, or Sam would never had made it through the door. He gets in, gets the run-around, and keeps coming back until he gets pro bono representation.

The whole idea is that love is enough. That’s a wonderful idea. The problem is that Sam is really not able to take care of himself . . . much less a child. To get around this problem, the concept of “village” care is set up subtly (about the only subtle thing in this video). Sam’s MR friends, the lawyer, the x-foster family, and the piano playing neighbor apparently pitch in to make sure that Sam and Lucy make out OK. The village thing is OK, but life in the US is not village style. Even my mom mentioned that if the village is expected to take care of the kids, someone ought to tell the villagers. This was after she saw the number of kids hanging out at my house. The parents around here are normal in intelligence as far as I know, but they will let toddlers wander all over.

If you can overlook this problem with the parent/child set up, then maybe you can also overlook the way that “normal” people suddenly grow up and learn what is important in life. The lawyer goes from being the ultimate ice woman to being a softie who suddenly has time to spend with her kid. The adoptive mother who didn’t just want to foster but to adopt and take Lucy away permanently suddenly carries her over to Sam and just leaves her.

The overall story is pretty messed up, but the direction and editing is even worse. Sam is a Beetles fan which is fine. The problem is that every scene change depends on some artsy camera work with Beetles music in the background. The really sad part is that the music is not by the Beetles. You hear “modern” cuts of the old classics. Music should bridge and transition a work. It should not jump out and kick you in the teeth.

Sean Penn plays Sam and does a good job. I would have been pretty sure that he was mentally handicapped based on his performance. He really was good. Michelle Pfeiffer plays the lawyer, and she misses the mark by a long shot. She makes a much better Cat Woman and playing action than this hard-driven woman turned cupcake.

I did like the concept here. I picked out the movie based on the back of the box. I do think that society often overlooks the positive qualities of those slower intellectually. It does take way more than a big bank account to raise a kid. Still, a kid needs someone who can make decisions and deal with change. When Lucy gets her Dad to take her to Shoney’s, he flips out because they don’t have International House of Pancakes food. He is out of his comfort level, but those things will happen over and over as Lucy gets older. I wouldn’t say to pull a kid out of the home, but I sure would work to set up some outside help.

This movie gets a big thumbs down. Life is not (and never has been) this simple. Even if the story worked, the execution is crummy. All in all, this is a must miss.


Recommended:
No

Viewing Format: VHS