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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.

'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.

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.

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.

"Josh and S.A.M." is one of those movies that probably most appeals to the pre-teen crowd, but it's still kind of a neat story. Portraying two brothers (Jacob Tierney and Noah Fleiss) going on a most unusual voyage of self-discovery, they know how to play everything here. It was really neat how the woman (Martha Plimpton) went along with the whole Liberty Maid thing.

All in all, I wouldn't be surprised if this movie one day inspires some youngsters to attempt what it portrays. Maybe it's not a masterpiece, but still an interesting look at life. Also starring Stephen Tobolowsky, Joan Allen, Chris Penn, Maury Chaykin, and a young Jake Gyllenhaal.