Pinkvilla Picks: I Am Sam: The Sean Penn film is a must watch that will tug at your heart

We challenge you to watch the 2001 American drama without crying! The heartwarming story of a father with a 7-year-old's mental capacity and his young daughter, beautifully brought on the celluloid, director Jessie Nelson has delivered a masterpiece through this film. The film stars Sean Penn as a mid-aged man with an intellectual disability and Dakota Fanning as his bright and inquisitive daughter Lucy. Michelle Pfeiffer plays a lawyer while Dianne Wiest, Loretta Devine, Richard Schiff, and Laura Dern are seen in supporting roles.

I Am Sam follows the story of Sam, a man with special needs who works at a coffee shop to support himself and his newborn daughter, Lucy, after her mother delivers her and abandons them exasperated with his weak mental capacity. The mid-aged father who himself has the thinking capacity of a 7-year-old raises his daughter all alone with the guidance of his neighbour Annie. Sam is the best father and playmate that any child could ever have but problems arise when Lucy grows up to be a 7-year-old girl, with much more intelligence than her father, surpassing his mental ability. Lucy loves him despite his mental condition but soon, the difference between their mental capacity becomes visibly evident to the others.

Sam, unaware of the same, continues to shower all his affection on his little daughter Lucy. There are several heart-touching scenes in the film one of them being when Lucy moves to a higher standard and notices that his father is unable to pronounce words from her new book, she refuses to read it. Every night before going off to sleep, Sam read out her book 'Green Eggs And Ham by Dr. Seuss' for her. While Lucy was growing up to be a bright child, her father's mental capacity was still of a 7-year-old. He was unable to read out simple words like 'different' and Lucy pretended to do the same for the sake of her father.

Accustomed to his routine, Sam liked his breakfast his way, 2 eggs, sunnyside up, and french pancakes, with fruit toppings on the side. While placing his order at a new restaurant, he became hysterical when the waitress told him that his choice of breakfast was not on the menu. And another similar incident was a nail in the coffin that separated Sam and his daughter Lucy. Sam organised a surprise birthday party for his 7-year-old at their house where he got into an argument with one of her friends of her age and soon, it becomes a legal matter with Sam not having Lucy's custody rights. To top it all, his mental inability only made his case weaker.

Lucy is sent away to a foster home and Sam is too innocent to understand why he is forced to stay away from his daughter, step in his lawyer Rita Harrison, played by Michelle Pfeiffer, who takes up his case pro bono. Every time the judge gives a verdict against him, it is heart-breaking to see Sam cry for her daughter and the little 7-year-old yearning for her father's love. Even though he was mentally unstable, Lucy shouted out loud saying that he was the best father anyone could ever have. Sam visited his daughter at her foster home where Lucy is able to convince him to run away with her. One of the scenes that are bound to well-up your eyes when an innocent Sam believes in the court and tells Lucy that he will take her home after the judge gives his verdict in his favour and Lucy responds saying that one of her co-mates at the foster home was told the same and then got transferred to 5 different homes with 5 different mothers where one of them hit her too.

I Am Sam is an emotional roller coaster that takes you through the father-daughter's journey. The film's end is bound to leave you in tears. But it is kind of happy tears that will bring a smile to your face. The film received acclaim from the audience as well as the critics. Sean Penn, who plays the protagonist in the drama was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor at the 74th Academy Awards in 2002. Dakota Fanning, who played Lucy and made her acting debut in the film became the youngest actress to be nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award. The makers of the film also starred Brad Silverman and Joe Rosenberg in key roles, two actors with real-life disabilities.

Hence, today Pinkvilla picks 'I Am Sam' for you, available on Netflix.