Review: Predictably, Penn shines as ‘Sam’

Geoff Carter

Friday, Jan. 25, 2002 | 9 a.m.

'I Am Sam'

No living American actor can disappear as quickly and completely inside a role as Sean Penn. Johnny Depp is coming close, but he's following the Penn model.

Almost immediately after "I Am Sam" begins, Penn becomes Sam Dawson, a mentally challenged man with an effervescent manner and an unspoken desire to become the fifth Beatle. As the picture opens, Penn is rearranging the sugar packets in the course of his job at Starbucks, and he immediately impresses: The man can act with just his fingers.

Sam's life is transformed by the birth of his daughter, who he names Lucy Diamond. The mother disappears immediately after the child is born, leaving Sam to raise Lucy himself, which he does pretty well. He occasionally enlists help -- mostly from his neighbor, a reclusive piano teacher (Dianne Wiest) -- but for the most part he raises Lucy himself, teaching her about the four lads from Liverpool and goofing off with her in the park.

It's obvious to the audience that Sam is a good dad, mostly because of Penn. His emotions breach the screen, and the love that he shows for his daughter -- played as a charming and precocious 7-year-old by Dakota Fanning -- is absolutely genuine. The pair of them are as strong a cinematic team as any you've seen -- an absolutely vital bond to establish if the story requires they must be split up.

Sam's intellect is that of a 7-year-old. On Lucy's seventh birthday a social worker takes her away from Sam, with the intention of placing her with acceptable parents (read: parents who espouse the lessons they've learned from textbooks). Sam's friends encourage him to find the "most expensive four-name lawyer" in the phone book, which leads him to tightly-wound family attorney Rita Harrison (Michelle Pfeiffer), who takes on the case pro bono to impress her colleagues.

"I Am Sam" follows a pattern cut from dozens of similar films: At one point, when asked what makes a good parent, Sam recites a speech from "Kramer vs. Kramer." But it deviates from the pattern in surprising ways. Penn makes sure that Sam only has lucid moments when they can't help him in court. Pfeiffer's attorney is a hundred times more confused than Sam. And young Fanning has a knowing stare that exceeds her years; she's the most recognizably mature character in the film.

Director Jessie Nelson throws a few curves, as well. As Sam recites the "Kramer" dialogue in court, she shows brief flashes of Sam playing with Lucy, laughing, smiling; in doing so, she shows that Sam understands what he's being asked if he can do. And the late introduction of Laura Dern, as a potential foster mother, packs an emotional wallop: It says something for Nelson's attention to character development that the audience views this perfect, loving parent as a threat.

"I Am Sam" is rife with Beatles references -- look for the "Abbey Road" cover quote -- and every song on the soundtrack is a Beatles homage (Ben Folds Five's "Golden Slumbers" is the best of the bunch). As an accidental eulogy to George Harrison, it's absolutely fitting. Thanks to Penn, "I Am Sam" sings a fine line.