A film full of playful scenes, touching moments and questions about the nature of relationships and the meaning of life. Afflicted Sam as an example of a loving father who fights for his daughter against a bureaucratized system and the arrogance of pompous careerists.

Sam gives birth to a daughter, Lucy. The problem is that the mother is a prostitute who just needed a place to sleep. On leaving the maternity ward, the mother abandons Lucy and Sam is left alone with Lucy in his arms. The situation is complicated by the fact that Sam is a mentally handicapped man with autistic tendencies.

Despite his disability, Sam patiently and persistently cares for his daughter Lucy. He regularly calls on his friend Annie, who lives in the house opposite, for help.

One day, after an incident, social services take an interest in Sam. The officials engineer a family tragedy because of their superficial insight into the family situation.

Lucy resists being separated from her father, but by a preliminary court order she is placed in an institution. Sam finds a smart lawyer, Rita Harrison, who begins working on his case “pro bono.”

Through Sam, Rita learns a new way of life. She begins to realize more and more what a horrible person subjugating everything, including her own family, to her career has made her.

Sam doesn’t stop fighting for Lucy. As a result, even Randy’s surrogate mother, who has taken Lucy into her family, realizes after a time that it is best for Lucy to stay with her father.

The film shows, among other things, that the most important thing in life is not even health, but love. In fact, health is not the key condition for being truly happy.

Parents Guide: Sam and Rita exchange intimate touches. Defiantly dressed prostitute. Drinking alcohol at a social occasion. Driving fast in a car. The arrogance of some of the characters in court. The separation of little Lucy from her loving father. Rita breaking up with her husband, mainly because of her husband’s infidelity. Sam is expecting an illegitimate child with a prostitute.

Cast: Sean Penn, Michelle Pfeiffer, Dakota Fanning, Dianne Wiest, Loretta Devine, Richard Schiff, Laura Dern, Doug Hutchison, Ken Jenkins, Scott Paulin, Kimberly Scott, Caroline Keenan, Mary Steenburgen

Crew: John Powell

USA, 2001

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