Avis Metacritic

Not about the justice or injustice of the legal system. Rather it's about the tragedy of Sam's predicament.

A warm, hard-to-resist story.

The 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.

The cancer of dishonesty begins to grow half an hour into the film, and it riddles the picture by the end.

Just 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.

As 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.

By-the-numbers Oscar bait -- but Penn does manage, against such odds, to make us see Sam as a person, not a performance.

Contrived, manipulative and shamelessly sentimental, this film is notable for the courageous reach of Sean Penn, who gives a bold, heartfelt performance.

It's a difficult issue, one that is not well served by a hollow confection like I Am Sam.

Penn's portrayal strikes me as equally insensitive. It's the nightmare performance of 2001.