28
Metascore
33 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 75San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleSan Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleNot about the justice or injustice of the legal system. Rather it's about the tragedy of Sam's predicament.
- 70Los Angeles TimesKevin ThomasLos Angeles TimesKevin ThomasA warm, hard-to-resist story.
- 63Chicago TribuneMichael WilmingtonChicago TribuneMichael WilmingtonThe role sounds like a sentimental trap, but Penn doesn't fall into it. It's a sensational performance, and he illumines a movie that sometimes seems in danger of descending into modish Hollywood political correctness.
- 50Charlotte ObserverLawrence ToppmanCharlotte ObserverLawrence ToppmanThe cancer of dishonesty begins to grow half an hour into the film, and it riddles the picture by the end.
- 50SlateDavid EdelsteinSlateDavid EdelsteinJust 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.
- 40TimeRichard CorlissTimeRichard CorlissAs 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.
- 40L.A. WeeklyF. X. FeeneyL.A. WeeklyF. X. FeeneyBy-the-numbers Oscar bait -- but Penn does manage, against such odds, to make us see Sam as a person, not a performance.
- 30Rolling StonePeter TraversRolling StonePeter TraversContrived, manipulative and shamelessly sentimental, this film is notable for the courageous reach of Sean Penn, who gives a bold, heartfelt performance.
- 25New York Daily NewsJami BernardNew York Daily NewsJami BernardIt's a difficult issue, one that is not well served by a hollow confection like I Am Sam.
- 0SalonCharles TaylorSalonCharles TaylorPenn's portrayal strikes me as equally insensitive. It's the nightmare performance of 2001.