I Am Sam

It's not often that we get to watch regular ol' TV anymore. I have no real need for it. TV is so passe in this internet age that Discovery Channel is at last something viable. There is, however, one other perk to the diminishing value of the broadcast formula, and it's the similar one that is still found in Radio. Spontaneity. There is a certain joy to be had in hearing or seeing something you enjoy when you did not expect as much.
On a similar note, it's neat when a movie's on that you've heard all about but have never seen.

This is how I came to see I Am Sam roughly 10 minutes after its start.

Hot on the heels of a shitty Beatles-based cash cow, I watch this film which is ripe with shitty Beatles covers. Beyond that, the film isn't god awful and that in itself is noteworthy considering that they lay the schmalz on you HARD. If ever the greatest film device to rend a heart, it would be the retard.

Sean Penn plays said retard under the name Sam Something (I forgot his last name), and his daughter, Lucy, is played by Dakota Fanning pre-fame, and Michelle Pfeiffer, who also gets a Beatles name drop, Rita, is a selfish lawyer who chooses to act pro bono on his case because she gets insecure around her coworkers. "Why do they need a lawyer?" asks you who has no idea the premise. Well, basically, the world seems to think retards shouldn't be fathers, which is exactly the role Sam is in. However, he loves his daughter and the Beatles so much that he battles to win custody over her, and thanks to Pfeiffer's insecurity and initial intolerance, the plot rolls right along with lots of tensions and social faux pas.

You may also ask "How does the world single him out?" Well, he gets authorities' attention while talking to a prostitute, completely unbeknownst to him. This lands him a little custody time at the joint and then he's let go and family services not-literally follow him home.

The antagonist lawyer comes in and serves, oddly, little significance. Antagonism on the whole is interestingly an ensemble choice, which makes sense really.

Characters are all moderately fleshed out, with development there but kind of forced sometimes. Particularly, Pfeiffer and Penn's characters. She hates him, then at some point just starts to love him. It's weird and strange, and her personal life's hardships are defined by a proclivity to eat candy in stealth. That holds no bearing on her development, but it was an interesting PG13 choice to make. Normally it's pills or dick or something. Anyway, people just start loving Sam and things just all of a sudden start working out. It's a strange way for things to pan out and cuts off some moments the film builds up to. It's also a little frustrating, considering that it's a pretty long movie, but maybe it felt that way because of goddamned commercial breaks. The antagonist lawyer's a good dick too, because he seems to be a concerned dick. And who doesn't want another retard being a parent? I can think of a few I know personally.

Thematically is where the big miss is. While everyone turns in servicable performances, it doesn't change the fact that it feels a little overdone and silly. I can't really get on board when it could've really delved deep and been something interesting. As is, it's just a big moving picture meant to make you pity someone who may or may not be a good father based on his love alone. It's very romantic era-esque in that regard, but the question of intellect in parenthood isn't really challenged as much as the pity is riled out of you. Kind of like pro-life propaganda. The question wasn't really asked, but it's there all the same. It simply stops at "You don't have to be book smart to be a good parent."

The editing is also weird. It's almost a prelude to reality TV or something the way it was cutting around during court scenes.

I can't really recommend the movie as a renter. Rather, don't put effort into seeing this. TV gives you the same kind of stuff and I guess that makes it only fitting that that's how I saw it, and about the one way I'd say it's cool to stop surfing and invest some time in it. The commercials blew genitals of both genders, but that's not the film's fault. Boy do I hate commercials. Geh. The dilemma then, of course, is that you're going to put effort in if you record and watch it later, which may disappoint you.

Beatles Fanatic Notions

Sam's Beatles factoids boost its rating in my mind. It's too bad the soundtrack covers themselves sucked. And on the question of how well the songs work in the film's context. Compared to Across the Universe, give them awards. Overall, eh. They were wise and didn't have a musical on their hands, forcing them to twist the plot and stretch concepts just to cater to lyrics that are painfully irrelevant to screen events. Here, it's almost all emotions. To give us a glimmer of hope, there's a touching moment of non-contact between Sam and his daughter Lucy while "Blackbird" plays. It works on a melodic and lyrical level. Not uber-specifically, but enough. It wasn't forced, the emotion is conveyed and that's enough. Move right along and smile. Not bad.