A Shimmer Runs Through It

I Am Sam
(***)

Sasha Stone
Mirror Film Critic

   Without the contributions of Sean Penn and Michelle Pfeiffer, Jessie Nelson’s “I Am Sam” would be a standard TV tear-jerker-of-the-week. However, the performances rescue the film.
   “I Am Sam” tells the story of a mentally retarded single father who, due to a series of mishaps, loses his daughter Lucy (Dakota Fanning) to social services. Upon discovering the mental state of the father, it must then be determined whether or not Sam is the best parent for Lucy. Can a man with the intellectual capacity of a seven year-old be responsible enough to raise his daughter alone?
   Of course, as the movie points out, Sam does not raise his child alone. He has a support system better than most middle class mothers -– including a godmother (Dianne Weist) who lives close by and helps out as needed. He also has a family of likewise mentally challenged friends who help him when, for instance, he doesn’t have enough money to buy his daughter the shoes she wants. (There is a nasty Farrelly brothers parody in here somewhere.) Sam and Lucy have somehow managed to make it work, even when she was a baby and Sam had to learn how to feed her on time by scheduling feedings alongside TV shows.
   Once social services intervenes and Lucy is placed with a “normal” foster family (Laura Dern plays the foster mom), it becomes clear that Sam has very little to offer Lucy, except, of course, boatloads of love and affection. Can’t complain about that. But what of the other things? How would Sam, say, handle puberty?
   The film shamelessly takes Sam’s side, portraying the lawyers for the foster family as unfeeling creeps who don’t get the big picture — it also borrows heavily from another single dad movie, “Kramer vs. Kramer,” which it acknowledges when Sam must take the stand and instead of giving testimony, recites Dustin Hoffman’s lines from the film.
   But “I Am Sam” has a few tricks up its sleeve — namely Penn, one of a handful of actors working in Hollywood who views his characters with intelligence and insight. What is most interesting is that he takes into consideration how a person would hold open his mouth, or how he would listen, or how he would laugh. These specifics are dazzling to watch. Most remarkable of all, Penn never loses character.
   Another thing the film has going for it is Michelle Pfeiffer (the woman who never ages), as Rita, a high-priced attorney shamed into taking Sam’s case “pro bono.” Pfeiffer delivers a wonderfully manic portrait of a woman who really has absolutely no idea what she’s doing — as a parent, as a lawyer, as a wife. She looks good on the outside, but everything is falling apart on the inside.
   Nelson creates a nice opposition: Where Sam is slow, Rita is fast — where Sam is courageous, Rita is cowardly, where Sam is consistent, Rita is inconsistent. If Sam promises his daughter something, he’ll break his back to come through — if Rita makes a promise, odds are on a letdown. We know so many Ritas; we know very few Sams.
How many parents are too busy to take the time that Sam takes with his daughter, on whom he focuses 100 percent? He has slowed down, and in so doing he sees things most of us miss. He sees pain, he allows for mistakes, he is careful not to hurt people — mostly, though, he puts his kid first.
   How could Sam be a worse parent than Rita, who is wealthy and successful but barely notices she has a child? Parenting is not a job that asks for credentials or requirements — most of us just stumble through, do the best we can, and hope that everything turns out all right. Given the state of Sam’s happy and smart daughter, it appears, though clearly not ideal, Sam’s best is enough.
   “I Am Sam” is only just barely a good movie. Had it not cheated the story in the third act it would be a very good movie. The case for Sam could have been made so that we’re more satisfied with how things turn out. But there is a quality to this film that hasn’t otherwise been seen this very dry year: it brings about an emotional catharsis while also raising issues of what it means to be a good parent.
   Finally though, and most importantly, it is a showcase for Penn — the performance of his career and one of the best performances of the year.
   “I Am Sam” opens Friday, December 28.