by Katie Weller

Created on: May 24, 2008   Last Updated: June 23, 2011

Starring Sean Penn, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Dakota Fanning. I Am Sam is a great movie that will inspire you to be more lenient towards those less fortunate.

Sean Penn stars as a man who is mentally challenged, and gets a homeless woman pregnant.
He leaves the hospital and she takes off, telling him that she did not want a baby with him. Now he is alone with his child: Lucy Diamond Dawson. (One of the most popular songs from the beetles: Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds.)

Dakota Fanning stars as his kind, sweet daughter who never loses her hope or faith in her Father, and wouldn't trade him for the world.

He is a very loving Father, but has the intellectual capacity of a seven year old.
Everything goes well until Lucy turns eight.

She is now unwilling to learn because she refuses to believe that she is smarter than her Father. A case worker sees this, and takes Lucy.

He has a job cleaning tables at Starbucks, and is unable to afford a lawyer.
Michelle Pfeiffer stars as a big time lawyer with big time problems. He goes to her and she refuses him, but in the midst of things, he sees her again. He asks for her help yet again. She is in front of her friends and wants to make a good impression, so she tells her friends she's doing this case pro-bono. She eventually becomes his lawyer.

He has several friends who support him through all of this, and make us laugh at the same time. One of them, including a woman who is afraid of the world, due to childhood problems. But she is the only one fit to testify in court.

He and his lawyer fight a battle to win Lucy back, and lose, due to several incidents of small things happening. In he midst of things, he and his lawyer become close friends and attempt to win her from the foster family.

Lucy is very hurt by this and sneaks off to house from the foster home almost every night, but he brings her back. Will he win Lucy back?

Even though no one believes that he can do it, he will not quit in the fight to get him back.

It is funny, sad, and altogether a great movie. Full of beetle songs and entertainment, it is one of my favorite movies. Sean Penn gives an excellent performance along with his co-star Michelle Pfieffer.

This is a movie sure to touch your heart as you see that what a handicapped person can do, rather than an average person. And no matter what the intellectual capacity, it has no effect on one's ability to love.

Learn more about this author, Katie Weller.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.