Love is All You Need.

Parents feel happy when they find that their child is smarter than them.

This moment came too early to Sam. When his daughter Lucy turned eight, she got more intelligent than Sam, who had the mental capacity of a seven-year old.

The father, who used to read to his daughter every night, couldn’t do that any more.

“This time the teacher gave you a difficult book.”

The movie I am Sam depicts the love between father and daughter and makes you filled with emotion. Sam, who is mentally retarded, works at a coffee shop for 8 dollars per hour. His only source of happiness is Lucy, who was left behind by her mother. He goes to eat out every Wednesday with his daughter and his friends, mentally retarded like him. On every Thursday, they watch videos and, every Friday, go to the singing room.

The Brilliant Lucy senses that her father is different from other fathers. At last, Lucy looses enthusiasm in study because she fears that she outperforms her father in intelligence. Finally, the social services steps in. They visit Sam’s house and take out Lucy on the ground that he cannot afford to bring up her. Sam set out to find a lawyer to regain his custody. Rita, who is very selfish and snobbish, takes the case pro bono to show off her ability to her fellows.

The message this film conveys is that love is all that parents need. The relationship packed with love between Sam and Lucy is compared with the one between Rita and her son, in which she just gives materialistic richness to her son. The movie shows that intelligence and money are not proportional to happiness.

During the two-hour running time the audience tears and laughs. The only flaw for the film is that the end of it is somewhat dull, compared to the climax, in which legal battles make the audience strained. It is good for those who like heart-warming movies.

Sean Penn in the role of Sam, who is a leading actor candidate for 2002 Academy Awards, showed a good performance. Dakota Fanning in the role of Lucy is really adorable, remindful of the young Drew Berrimore. Most of all, the music of the Beatles, which runs though the movie, embellishes it.

Though Sam has the mental capacity of a seven year old, he knows the music by heart. So during the movie Beatles music plays at right places. When Sam holds Lucy just after she was born, the song, “Lucy In the Sky With Diamonds” runs. The nurse asks what her name is and he answers, “Lucy.” And hit songs of the Beatles such as “Across the Universe” and “Black Bird” flow in the movie. Only for over 12 years old. Released on Oct. 18. The original title is I am Sam.

Sue-Jean Kang sjkang@donga.com