I Am Sam
New Line Cinema | Release Date: December 28, 2001 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
28
METASCORE
Generally unfavorable reviews based on 33 Critic Reviews
Positive:
6
Mixed:
8
Negative:
19
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
50
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
The cancer of dishonesty begins to grow half an hour into the film, and it riddles the picture by the end. Read full review
50
SlateDavid Edelstein
Just don't believe the anti-hype. There are lots of reasons to have a good cry these days -- here's a nice, warm place to get squeezed. Read full review
50
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
The kind of performance Penn delivers in I Am Sam, which may look hard, is easy, compared, say, to his amazing work in Woody Allen's "Sweet and Lowdown." Read full review
42
Seattle Post-IntelligencerSean Axmaker
I can imagine the pitch meeting: "It's 'Kramer vs. Kramer' meets 'Forrest Gump.' No, wait, 'Rainman' has a baby!" Read full review
42
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
The dumbing down of low-IQ sentimentality. Read full review
40
TimeRichard Corliss
As the director of this noble weepie, Nelson so overuses visual tricks -- zooms, zip pans and multiple perspectives on a simple scene -- that she turns the viewer into an exasperated parent; this is a directorial style in need of a spanking.
40
L.A. WeeklyF. X. Feeney
By-the-numbers Oscar bait -- but Penn does manage, against such odds, to make us see Sam as a person, not a performance. Read full review
40
The New York TimesDana Stevens
Not a bad movie, and its intentions are unimpeachable. But its sentimentality is so relentless and its narrative so predictable that the life is very nearly squeezed out of it. Read full review
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