i am sam -- (2001)

Tuesday 11 February 2014

Sam Dawsen, although he is a mental retardation man, is a lovable daddy to his 7 years old daughter, Lucy. She is not his biological child because Sam's friend has left Lucy not long after she gave her birth. Sam gets to be supported by his group of friends with developmental disabilities and his kind neighbour, Annie, who always helps Sam to take care Lucy when he can not. Sam has tried his best to provide a good loving environment for his daughter but time has passed and Lucy becomes cleverer and cleverer till surpasses her daddy's mental ability. Not to mention Lucy's friends always tease her to have an idiot father. As a little girl, Lucy starts to feel embarrassed with the fact that her father is a 'retard'.


Sam is not cleverer than a 7 years old kid and he is a low-income. The government takes those reasons to decide Sam is not a decent father for Lucy. Because of that, Lucy is taken by the government and Sam is allowing to have two supervised visits per week. His friend then advices Sam to visit a lawyer to help him wins over Lucy's custody. The woman names Rita Harrison. Materially, Rita has had everything. But mentally, she is underprivileged. Her husband is philandering and she has a fractious relationship with her son. Fast-paced schedule and difficult personal life have earned her a reputation as cold and unfeeling. Rita is reluctant to help Sam at the first place, but his stubborn has melted Rita to finally obliges him. Besides, she wants to prove to others that she is not heartless.




At the trial, Sam breaks down after opposing counsel convinces him that he is not capable of being a father. After the trial, Lucy resides in a foster home with Randy Carpenter, but tries to convince Sam to help her run away, and continually escapes in the middle of the night to go to Sam's apartment, whereupon he immediately returns her. Ultimately, the foster family who planned to adopt Lucy decide to return her to Sam, with an arrangement that Randy will help him raise her. As Sam and Rita work together to secure Sam's parental rights, Sam unwittingly helps Rita with her family problems, including encouraging her to leave her philandering husband and repairing her relationship with her son.


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