Josh et S.A.M.

'Josh and SAM' is an interesting little film that deals with a variety of issues in a manner that draws in the audience and endears them to the characters.

It revolves around two young brothers, twelve-year-old Josh and seven-year-old Sam, who live with their divorced mother. When she goes on intends to marry her fiancé and relocate to France, the boys are shipped to Florida to live with their father Thom. Although he doesn't intend to, Thom can't help but favour the sporty and energetic Sam over his quiet, geeky elder son and things turn even more sour for Josh when he clashes with his stepbrothers and then learns of his mother's plans to leave them. Bitter at the world, Josh tells his brother that he is a 'SAM', a robot child soldier who must escape to Canada before he is shipped to fight in the war-torn depths of Africa. And when Josh thinks he's accidentally killed a man, he puts his plan to runaway into action.

The two young leads, Jacob Tierney as Josh and Noah Fleiss as Sam, give excellent performances despite their ages and relative inexperience in acting. Tierney portrays Josh's anger and jealousy as well as his vulnerability while Fleiss is effective in depicting Sam's naivety and love/hate relationship with his elder brother.

This is a film that is not only a Boys' Own adventure that takes the two brothers across the country but it is one that looks at family relationships (fraternal bonds as well as dysfunctional parenting and the turmoil of step-families) and the coming-of-age of a pre-adolescent who is very insecure in his world. Although 'Josh and SAM' is obviously aimed at a younger demography, I imagine older teens and adults would enjoy it too as I certainly did both when I saw it aged about thirteen and again when I saw it again around twelve years later. It's a film that has something for everyone and is definitely one of the better lesser-known films of the Nineties.

Children and Parents need to see this,

Children need to see this as to know what NOT to do, what not to believe. And that their Actions can have severe consequences.

Parents need to see this to see just how devastating to their Children their actions as parents can be.

When i was about 14 i saw Josh and sam for the first time, it was on showtime and i watched it because nothing else was on. Up until that day i had no idea of the open west. I was a city kid and of course the world revolved around my little neighborhood. But Josh and Sam took me away from that. show me there are places out there that aren't made of stone, and opened my mind to the beauty of the open road and what it really means to be free with no boundaries. Just out there in the cool night with no phones, no restrictions just your 1993 Pontiac candy apple red Grand Prix and home is toward the setting sun. This is a great adventure movie for kids and teens 15 and under especially for those with siblings and active imaginations. I highly recommend it.

I remember watching "Josh and S. A. M" back in high school and loving it. I didn't realize then why I loved it so, but today I clearly know why. Josh (Jacob Tierney) had achieved what I could only hope to. I am an older brother and I was somewhat tyrannical and manipulative. That was when I was a kid and I'm nothing like that today, but I would have loved to come up with the mindbleep Josh did.

Josh was the black sheep of his family. His dad (Stephen Tobolowsky) wanted him to be tougher, his step-brothers picked on him, and his brother Sam (Noah Fleiss) didn't like him. In order for Josh to feel superior to his younger more athletic brother, Sam, he convinced him that he was a machine built for war. He told him that his name was an acronym for Strategically Altered Mutant and that he was supposed to fight in a war in Africa soon at the behest of the government. He had Sam so solidly hooked that he couldn't even convince him that he made the whole thing up. I only wish I could've been so clever.

Josh's lie grew wings and took flight. Sam wanted to escape to Canada to avoid being used for war and no one was going to stop him. Josh himself was on the run as well for what he believed he did to a man. This caused the two of them to go on an adventurous road trip where they picked up a girl named Alison (Martha Plimpton) who only helped cement Sam's beliefs. I laughed at the three of them all along their uproarious journey that served only to make the brothers closer.

This sort of "Thelma & Louise" for kids might be fun if you're a kid, since most of them get easily impressed with anything. Doesn't make much of an effort on grown ups but it has its charm, its fun moments and its few acceptable original ideas. I saw it as a fun version of "Radio Flyer" but without achieving its magic and realism.

"Josh and S.A.M." tells the story of two runaway brothers Josh (Jacob Tierney) and Sam (Noah Fleiss) escaping from their problems at home, living with their dad (Stephen Tobolowsky), recently separated of his wife (Joan Allen) who is about to marry her French boyfriend (Roland Guttman). Josh and Sam don't have much of a fun living with dad since he has two other kids from his current marriage, and they're terrorizing bullies to their "new brothers". The story gets twisted, entering like a dramatic adventure when Josh says to his brother that he was genetically modified by his father as a Pentagon developed experiment to be used in wars (that's why S.A.M. in the title), so they're route to freedom ends up being than just mere running away from house problems but also because Sam can be found by the manufacturers and sent to a conflict in Africa. During their journey they make up stories, think they killed a man (Chris Penn) after an incident, and join forces with a girl (Martha Plimpton) of whom Sam thinks she's the 'Liberty Maid', a helpful source who gather people like Sam to hide underground (another story made up by Josh).

Often dry in its humor and lacking of energy in its agitated sequences, the movie is a little dreadful, very tiring and always turning to places and situations we don't feel too much enjoyed with. And if it works for the most part it's because of Tierney/Josh smartness and creative ways to save the day while Sam keeps being one of the most annoying kids ever presented on screen with a pretentious, imaginative and unexplained intelligence, trying to be the brightest kid on Earth. It's very believable that an older brother would fake stories to involve his younger brother into something but the opposite while wanting to be wiser than wisdom itself, just doesn't work. This isn't a statement about kids not being smart or intelligent, it's just that the movie presents them with unconvincing dialogs and quotes, strangely unsuitable for a child, and if we can't believe in the story, if we can't buy its idea then the movie has failed. With your belief suspended, this even manages to be fun here and there.

Yes, it's a problematic plot but the film rises above some of its obstacles (even if it has to drag the viewers through strange moments). Worths a view due to the cast reunion, most of them are enjoyable in their roles - special part of this, Jake Gyllenhaal plays quite an ironic role, if taken into consideration some of his future roles, so pay attention to him, specially at the dinner scene. A little special, a little cute and fun for a Sunday afternoon. 6/10