'I Am Sam' captures, refuses to release audience's attention

I Am Sam grapples with the question posed by the famous Beatles lyric - is love all a person needs? The film chronicles the life of the mentally handicapped Sam Dawson (Sean Penn) and his struggle to raise a daughter. The touching drama begins when the homeless woman Sam sympathetically takes in disappears after giving birth to a daughter (Dakota Fanning), who Sam affectionately names Lucy Diamond after his favorite song. Sam is tender and devoted, yet intellectually childlike, as he fumbles through fatherhood. With the help of Sam's collection of adoring and well-meaning friends and a brilliant but agoraphobic neighbor (Dianne Wiest), he is able to raise a remarkable, bright-eyed, intelligent little girl. The problem and crux of the movie is presented when Lucy turns eight and outgrows her father's intellectual capabilities. The premise, the action and the focus of this movie are unconventional, but provide an outstanding metaphor for life and love. The relationship between Sam and Lucy is abnormal at best, yet at the end of the day their world is crafted in pure love and honesty. This world alludes almost all of the lives of those who deem Sam an unfit father and take Lucy to foster care. Everyone is handicapped in some way by life, whether through birth or hardship. This point is eloquently made in a confrontation between Sam and his shrewd, self-centered lawyer, Rita Harrison (Michelle Pfeffier,) who initially takes his case pro bono only to cover up a lie. Penn gives a deep and tearful performance as a man trying to rise above his handicap. Fanning provides such a luminous, curious presence that captivates throughout the entire movie. Yet, the implausibility of the premise demeans the sting acting given by Penn and Pfeiffer. The most apparent fallacy occurs at the very start of the movie. Why is the age of seven a whistle blow to child services that there is possibly something unhealthy about a relationship between a mentally-retarded individual and his daughter? Is the audience supposed to believe that for seven years this lifestyle has been unquestioned? I Am Sam may be a syrupy and flawed production, yet its sentimentality is not totally undeserving. For a moment we feel love, uncomplicated by life, schedules and cell phones. Perhaps, love in its rare, blind form really is all we need. Rating: B-