Lucy (Dakota Fanning), now almost seven, lives happily with her father. However, when one of Lucy's friends complains that Sam hit him, Lucy is taken away by social services.
However, when she turns seven, she starts to surpass her father's mental capacity. To avoid hurting her father, Lucy decides to hold herself back in school. That's when Social Services gets involved; they remove Lucy from her father's care.
On her seventh birthday Sam throws a surprise party for Lucy, but unfortunately, a Department of Child and Family Services caseworker shows up to see Sam have an altercation with Lucy's friend and that boy's father. The authorities then take Lucy from her home.
Sam is also a father. And he has raised his little girl (named Lucy Diamond after the Beatles song) alone for seven years, ever since her mother ran away days after her birth. You wouldn't think he could do it, the diapers, the feedings, the potty-training. But he does.
I Am Sam (2001) - A Good Parent Scene (8/9) | Movieclips
How did Sam get a girl pregnant and I Am Sam?
In 1993, Sam Dawson, a Starbucks barista with an intellectual disability, becomes the single father of Lucy Diamond Dawson, named after the Beatles song "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds", following their abandonment by her mother, a homeless woman with whom Sam had a sexual encounter.
I am Sam is a movie about a mentally disabled man trying to get custody of his child. I thought the movie was incredibly moving and heartwarming. There are some emotionally intense scenes when Sam and his daughter are being forced apart, and some scenes in the court room that are intense during the custody hearing.
In I AM SAM, Sam Dawson (Sean Penn), a mentally challenged man who wipes the tables at Starbucks, decides to fight for custody of his daughter, Lucy (Dakota Fanning). Although Lucy's mother, a homeless woman, leaves right after Lucy is born, Sam does just fine at first, with help from an agoraphobic neighbor (
They take Lucy away from Sam. Sam meets a rich lawyer named Rita Harrison, played by Michelle Pfeiffer. He's inspired to hire her by the Beatles song about “lovely Rita, meter maid” and because her last name is Harrison, like the Beatle guitarist George Harrison, but Rita the lawyer wants nothing to do with Sam's case.
No doubt the filmmakers wanted it all to be “real”—to establish Sam's dignity as a person and a parent—but it just doesn't happen. There are too many contrived “not without my daughter” speeches, and the line between empathy and sympathy or pity is crossed too often.
One argument in favor of Sam receiving full custody of Lucy is that he loves her deeply and has shown a strong commitment to her well-being. Among other things, he provides a stable home environment, displays immense dedication to her education, and creates a loving and nurturing bond with her.
I am Sam is a movie about a mentally challenged man, named Sam, striving to raise his daughter, Lucy, alone. Diagnosed with Autism, Sam's intellectual capacity cannot exceed the age of 7. As we watch Lucy grow up under Sam's roof, we are able to see the love they have for each other.
Lucy's foster family eventually allows Sam to take over custody of his daughter with the agreement that the foster family will assist in raising her. As Sean Penn's character stated, the word “different” is extremely descriptive when depicting the characters of Sam and Lucy in I Am Sam.
Meanwhile, Jang enters the lab and points a gun at Lucy's head. He shoots, but by that point Lucy has reached 100% of her brain capacity and promptly disappears, moving into the spacetime continuum. Only her clothes and the black supercomputer are left behind. Del Rio enters and fatally shoots Jang.
The beautiful actress confirmed reports that the sex scene between their characters Rita Harrison and Sam Dawson had been left on the cutting room floor - which she blames on nervous male movie executives.
They sleep together, and she gets pregnant. She gives birth, but looks disdainfully at the baby. On the way home from the hospital, she abandons Sam and the baby, and is never heard from again. Sam raises his daughter, Lucy, on his own with the help of a neighbor.
The lesson "I Am Sam" wants to teach us is, "All you need is love." This is not quite strictly true. Sam loves his daughter more than anyone else, and she loves him, but it will take more than love for him to see her through grade school and adolescence and out into the world.
Sam, a mentally handicapped man, gives shelter to a homeless woman. Nine months later, she gives birth to a baby girl and then vanishes onto a bus, leaving Sam holding their baby.
When it comes to researching films about autism, 'I Am Sam' is rarely mentioned. His intellectual disability is not specifically labelled in the film, but much of Sam's traits are consistent with autism- his poor coordination, repetitive behaviours, echolalia, OCD and poor eye contact.
What did Rita Sam's lawyer learn from Sam about parenting?
5. What did Rita, Sam's lawyer, learn from Sam about parenting? Sam Dawson shows his lawyer Rita Harrison Williams How to truly love your child and how to show that you love them a lot.
An intellectually disabled man fights for custody of his 7-year-old daughter and in the process teaches his cold-hearted lawyer the value of love and family.
The movie was inspired by the real-life story of a man named Philippe Iacono. His struggle to retain custody of his daughter after being diagnosed with developmental disabilities resonated with the filmmakers.
Sam exhibits several characteristics of ASD which are manifested in his communication, behaviors, and social interactions throughout the movie. In preparing for his role in 'I Am Sam', the actor, Sean Penn spent many hours listening to the different prosodic abnormalities of individuals with ASD.
