Storyline
Sam Dawson has the mental capacity of a 7-year-old. He works at a
Starbucks and is obsessed with the Beatles. He has a daughter with a
homeless woman; she abandons them as soon as they leave the hospital. He
names his daughter Lucy Diamond (after the Beatles song), and raises
her. But as she reaches age 7 herself, Sam's limitations start to become
a problem at school; she's intentionally holding back to avoid looking
smarter than him. The authorities take her away, and Sam shames
high-priced lawyer Rita Harrison into taking his case pro bono. In the
process, he teaches her a great deal about love, and whether it's really
all you need. Written by
Jon Reeves <jreeves@imdb.com>
Plot Summary
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Plot Synopsis
Plot Keywords: disability | child custody | single father | custody battle | mentally impaired man | See All (174) »
Taglines: love is all you need
Genres: Drama
Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)
Rated PG-13 for language | See all certifications »
Parents Guide: View content advisory »
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Details
Official Sites: New Line Cinema [United States] | NZZ Online - Neue Zürcher Zeitung (German) | See more »
Country: USA
Language: English
Release Date: 25 January 2002 (USA) See more »
Also Known As: Yo soy Sam See more »
Filming Locations: Echo Park, Los Angeles, California, USA See more »
Box Office
Budget: $22,000,000 (estimated)
Opening Weekend: $25,993 (USA) (4 January 2002)
Gross: $40,270,895 (USA) (12 April 2002)
Company Credits
Production Co: New Line Cinema, Avery Pix, Bedford Falls Company, The See more »
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company contact information
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Technical Specs
Runtime:
Sound Mix: DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS
Color: Color
Aspect Ratio: 1.85 : 1
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Written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney
Performed by Ben Harper
Ben Harper appears courtesy of Virgin Records
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Did You Know?
Trivia
Dakota Fanning's character is named Lucy Diamond from The Beatles song "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds." Michelle Pfeiffer's character's name is Rita Harrison, from the song "Lovely Rita," and the last name of Beatles member George Harrison. Sam, Lucy, and Sam's friends walking across the street with the balloons is a tribute to the case cover of "Abbey Road." Sean Penn wanted the soundtrack to be all Beatles music but was unable to get the rights, so he asked various artists to cover the Beatles songs he wanted to use. And in order for the re-recorded music to fit into the movie, each of the artists had to use the same tempo as the original Beatles songs. See more »Goofs
When Annie is teaching Sam when to feed Lucy and they are talking about what "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" is about, Annie says "But John Lennon said, it was about a friend of his son Julian Lennon's from school - Lucy O'Connell". The real girl's name was "Lucy O'Donnell". See more »Soundtracks
Strawberry Fields ForeverWritten by John Lennon and Paul McCartney
Performed by Ben Harper
Ben Harper appears courtesy of Virgin Records
See more »
Frequently Asked Questions
See more (Spoiler Alert!) »User Reviews
Very well done, especially Penn and Fanning
In 'Rain Man', Dustin
Hoffman gave the best portrayal I have ever seen of a mentally disturbed
person, but Sean Penn came very close here. He was quite convincing but
somewhat funnier. With Hoffman, I never quite knew when he was supposed
to be funny, but with Penn there were many funny moments that I felt
okay about laughing at. And I just had to like the character.
I've heard so many good things about Dakota Fanning, and now I see for myself. She's great.
The actors playing Sam's friends also seemed very convincing, one in particular. I didn't catch his name, but he wore glasses and I think he must have really been mentally disabled. The others could have been but might just have been acting.
MIchelle Pfeiffer was very good also, and gorgeous. And Richard Schiff was likable as the lawyer on the other side of Sam's case. In fact, I didn't see those who were against Sam as evil. They just had Lucy's best interests in mind. But I wanted Sam to win.
While it is true this may have been done before, I think this movie offered unique twists and qualities other movies didn't have, and the performances were very good.
I've heard so many good things about Dakota Fanning, and now I see for myself. She's great.
The actors playing Sam's friends also seemed very convincing, one in particular. I didn't catch his name, but he wore glasses and I think he must have really been mentally disabled. The others could have been but might just have been acting.
MIchelle Pfeiffer was very good also, and gorgeous. And Richard Schiff was likable as the lawyer on the other side of Sam's case. In fact, I didn't see those who were against Sam as evil. They just had Lucy's best interests in mind. But I wanted Sam to win.
While it is true this may have been done before, I think this movie offered unique twists and qualities other movies didn't have, and the performances were very good.
49 of 67 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you?
