I Am Sam

"Rita: I just don't know what to call you: retarded, mentally retarded, mentally handicapped, mentally disabled, intellectually handicapped, intellectually disabled, developmentally disabled... Sam: You can call me Sam."

I Am Sam is a 2001 American drama film written and directed by Jessie Nelson, starring Sean Penn, Dakota Fanning and Michelle Pfeiffer. It's about a mentally handicapped man who fights for the custody of his seven-year-old daughter.

For his role as Sam, Penn was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor.


 * Children Raise You
 * Disabled Character, Disabled Actor: Sean Penn, of course, is not really developmentally disabled — but many of the actors who play his housemates are.
 * Dumb Is Good
 * Inspirationally Disadvantaged: Averted.
 * I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Sam for his daughter.
 * Jukebox Musical: Sort of, as the soundtrack consists of cover versions of songs by The Beatles.
 * Man Child
 * Oscar Bait: As pointed out in Tropic Thunder, Sean Penn tried just a little too hard with this one, not to mention the creative staff behind the movie.
 * Realistic Diction Is Unrealistic: Averted entirely when it comes to Sam, who tends to repeat himself and mix his words. Interestingly, the more a character comes to like Sam, the more they talk like him.
 * That they start talking like him when they come to like him can be explained by the fact that this happens in real life. If you spend a lot of time around people that talk a certain way, then you start acting and speaking like them. People who spend time in foreign countries develop a different accent or dialect, and people who spend time around someone who, say, says a certain word a lot or has a verbal tic will find themselves using the word or verbal tic.
 * Shout-Out: When asked what his daughter means to him, Sam makes a heartfelt speech that the judge points out is from Kramer vs. Kramer.
 * Tragic Dream: Sam wants to be a good father, but he just isn't capable of raising his daughter alone.