Cinema Review (From Penarth Times)

Cinema Review

DRAMATIC, tense, heart-warming and very emotional - these are phrases that can be associated with director Jessie Nelson's new movie I Am Sam (PG).

Oscar nominee Sean Penn plays Sam, a mentally challenged man, who is left to bring up his daughter when the mother runs away soon after the baby is born.

Sam successfully raises daughter Lucy (Dakota Fanning) for six years, but social services decide on her 7th birthday that he is unfit to carry on caring for her.

Sam is desperate to get his daughter back. He goes to lawyer Rita Harrison (Michelle Pfeiffer), who is also dealing with her own personal inadequacies as a parent.

Rita is busy trying to win the court case for Sam and Lucy, and she neglects her own son even more. This drives an even deeper wedge between mother and son, as he believes she only cares about work. However, Rita and Sam find themselves becoming friends and in the process they teach each other about life, love, and whether that's all you need.

'I Am Sam' is a compelling film that pulls at your heartstrings. It has excellent characterisation, along with some incredible performances. Sean Penn and Dakota Fanning have a fantastic on-screen chemistry as father and daughter and Michelle Pfeiffer gives one of the best performances of her career.

She steals the show as the hard-nosed lawyer whose heart is softened by a father willing to fight against all the odds for the daughter he loves.