Review of I Am (2011) by Amilcar A — 27 Feb 2011

I Am talks about a man that sees the light at the end of the tunnel - or so to speak. After experiencing great wealth, luxury and prosperity he faces a near death experience and realizes there is more to life than money (he obviously got all his Apple stuff for free).

Tom Shadyac directed some hilarious movies and now is directing/starring in a spiritual, self-fulfilling documentary that could have been great but never really delivers.

The uber-theme is great and very timely. We live in an interconnected world that is not just wired by the internet. It's a biological and physical system and we all depend on each other. He makes a really good case about how we need to change and reevaluate our lives if we are to really prosper as a species.

The shortcomings however are massive. He assembles a killer cast of spokespeople including titans like Chomsky and Zinn. Yet we see them for barely a few minutes. Instead of getting some great insight and a decent ass kicking, we barely get a glimpse of what these great thinkers have to say. The movie is mostly stock footage of really shitty stuff, some nice stuff and lots of randomness.

The best thing about I AM is not the documentary itself but an indication that people continue to realize that we need to change. Money as a bloodsport and the dog eat dog world we live in is not sustainable. Trickle down doesn't work and materialistic hoarding is bad, not good.

As expected, this will be a small movie watched mostly by Ralph Nader voters and college students. No one that should watch it will since they will be lining up for Gary Potter or praying at the mega church.