Review of I Am Sam (2014) by Nilesh J — 11 Dec 2010

I will admit that the film was a bit sentimental, however, I felt it was appropriate to this particular film. From what I could tell, the film was not trying to present an argument on whether or not mentally disabled parents should be allowed to keep their children or not, but rather using this plot to criticize modern parents (which might be why it received such awful reviews from critics, though it obviously was not the bomb the critics made it out to be), a defective justice system, and the cold, unsympathetic, and mechanic ways of systems put into place in order to help people.

The film overtly contrasts Sean Penn against Michelle Pfeiffer and their methods of parenting causing the audience to often ask why Michelle Pfeiffer isn't the one losing her child instead of Sean Penn.

I also think, contrary to many critics' views, the film is not suggesting that Sean Penn is a capable father, particularly since he ends up asking for help in the end and, though it does not tell us, probably ends up sharing joint custody of his daughter with the foster parents.

Either way, I do not think who is capable of parenting a child should be measured by things such as intelligence or fortune - which is probably what the film is getting at since Michelle Pfeiffer is portrayed as very intelligent and very incapable of raising her child - at first.

This film has the unfortunate side effect of acting as a mirror (though there is no such thing as a perfect parent so no parent should see this and assume that they are a horrible parent) which may account for some of its reviews - that and the current obsession in the scholastic circle of not provoking any sentimentality, which I feel this film does not do to the extent that people claim it does.