I am Sam
This film gives a much more realistic portrayal than Forrest Gump of a man and 'Dad' (Sam) with learning difficulties, fighting the State to keep his daughter. Sam (Sean Penn) clears tables in Starbucks. On Wednesday nights he meets up with his friends: Ifty, who has Attention Deficit Disorder; Robert who is paranoid; and Brad and Joe, two men with learning difficulties (played by two actors with learning difficulties) to watch old movies. Sam has a relationship with a woman, who has his baby. She abandons Sam to look after the baby on his own as they leave the maternity hospital. An agoraphobic neighbour shows him how to look after the baby and, with her help, and that of his friends, he manages to look after his daughter until she is seven.
Sam inadvertently gets into trouble with the police when a prostitute tries to pick him up. They find out about his daughter and inform Social Services, who think she should not stay with Sam, as he cannot give her what she needs. The child, Lucy (Dakota Fanning), is a more proficient reader than her Dad by this age and is beginning to ask all sorts of questions Sam can't answer. When Lucy begins intentionally stunting her development so as not to hurt her father, the social worker takes action, removing her from her father and placing her with foster parents.
As the day of the hearing to determine who will parent Lucy looms, Sam gets a high-powered lawyer, Rita (Michele Pfeiffer), who only takes the case to prove to her colleagues that she takes free cases. Sam loses the first hearing and becomes withdrawn and depressed. His interactions with Rita make her question her own parenting skills and she begins to see Sam as a friend rather than a client. Eventually, having first broken his links with Lucy, Sam moves nearer to her foster parent, Randy, so he can be near his daughter. Lucy takes to climbing out of her bedroom and visiting Sam at night. In the end, Randy and Sam come to understand that Lucy needs both of them.
Sam is played very realistically by Sean Penn and the realism is enhanced by the two friends, Brad and Joe. Ifty and Robert are less successful characters, played for laughs. The film challenges the generally-held view that adults with learning difficulties can't be effective parents. The negative way the Social Services and the courts view Sam is also realistic.
Sam loves the Beatles and is an expert on them and their music, which helps him navigate through life. The film skilfully uses cover versions of various Beatles songs to create atmosphere.
Make sure you prepare the ground by covering the material in the Introducing disability in class guidelines before looking at issues in any specific film.
