I Am Sam

Sean Penn stars in this drama as Sam Dawson, a developmentally disabled adult who has been working at a coffee shop and raising his daughter Lucy (Dakota Fanning) for seven years. Sam receives help in his parenting duties from a circle of trusted confidantes, including his ADD-afflicted best friend ...more

For a film that's waterlogged in bathos, it features a brilliant performance from the ever-versatile and surprising Sean Penn, who is a shocker not just for the technical achievement of his role but for the warmth he injects into it. Maybe it's real-life fatherhood, but the actor exhibits a depth of soul previously absent from his already stellar work, putting him into a league where he could conceivably play just about anyone. On the whole, however, the project comes up short, gorging itself on ...more