What was the lawyers name in i am sam

They take Lucy away from Sam. Sam meets a rich lawyer named Rita Harrison, played by Michelle Pfeiffer. Rita is a troubled, impatient woman wrapped up in the money she earns from her work. Unlike Sam, Rita has strained relations with her own child, a young boy. Also, her husband apparently is cheating on her.

This begins a series of ups and downs as Sam fights to regain custody of his beautiful, intelligent daughter. It takes delight in the characters of these men rather than makes jokes at the expense of their infirmities. It also is very funny. As for the emotional sentiments expressed in the movie, they are based on a moral worldview that is inspiring rather than syrupy. In fact, at one point, Sam prays to God for help.

Although the help that God provides at that moment in the story does not last, and Sam and Lucy must go through further trials and tribulations, the movie ends on an incredibly uplifting note. It takes delight in the characters of these men rather than makes jokes at the expense of their infirmities. It also is very funny. As for the emotional sentiments expressed in the movie, they are based on a moral worldview that is inspiring rather than syrupy.

In fact, at one point, Sam prays to God for help. Although the help that God provides at that moment in the story does not last, and Sam and Lucy must go through further trials and tribulations, the movie ends on an incredibly uplifting note. Sean Penn does a tremendous job as Sam. Michelle Pfeiffer does her usual bang-up job as Rita. Although there are a number of strong profanities and other foul language in I Am Sam , most of the naughty language comes from Rita, the caustic lawyer who undergoes her own redemption because of her experiences with Sam and Lucy.

Thus, the foul language she uses is a way for the movie to show how this woman needs to make some positive changes in her own life. Sam helps Rita figure out the value that a good family life can have for both a parent and a child. As noted above, the final message of this powerful, poignant movie is that love brings people together, including, sometimes, apparent enemies.

This is a fabulous premise for what is one of the most entertaining pictures of the year Please address your comments to:. The Christian Broadcasting Network.

Because of this, he's given only menial tasks to do. Suddenly, his boss tells him that he has to go. We see Sam running through the streets, catching buses and so on to end up at a hospital. A woman is in labor and it turns out that he's the father, but she wants nothing to do with him afterward--apparently, it was something like a one night stand. She abandons him with the baby. Aided by a quartet of developmentally disabled friends and his agoraphobic neighbor, Annie Cassell Dianne Wiest , we see Sam doing his best to raise the girl, Lucy Diamond Dawson eventually played by Dakota Fanning --so named because Sam is a big Beatles fan.

At least until he is "accidentally arrested". Government officials question his ability to raise his daughter, and I Am Sam becomes the tale of Sam's legal battle to retain custody of Lucy, aided by high profile lawyer Rita Harrison Michelle Pfeiffer.

I Am Sam will likely make you say, "Wow! Sean Penn is completely natural and believable as a developmentally disabled man. Two of the men playing his friends really were developmentally disabled, having been found at L. Goal, a non-profit agency dedicated to helping such people through a variety of programs, and it's next to impossible to tell them apart from the other actors. Nelson and her co-writer, Kristine Johnson, spent a lot of time at L.

Goal doing research, as did Penn. Pfeiffer perfectly executes a complex character who has to undergo a number of far reaching transformations and even a breakdown of sorts. As for Fanning, I haven't seen her in a film yet where she didn't threaten to steal the whole thing from her senior, much more experienced colleagues, and during the filming of I Am Sam she was only 6 or 7. Wiest, Richard Schiff, Laura Dern and others also turn in very complex performances that convey characters with deep, multifaceted histories, despite their relatively little screen time.

Nelson approaches the film with a number of unusual artistic and technical angles that all work wonderfully. The cinematography is mostly hand-held work. Unlike similar attempts in films such as Lars Von Trier's Dogville , the hand-held work never feels affected or intrusive here--it's completely "organic".

The most common purpose of the unusual cinematography is to give the viewer almost a subjective sense of what it's like to be Sam, to experience the world in the way he does. Cinematographer Elliot Davis moves his camera in a way closely mirrored with Sean Penn's movements.

There's an additional emotional symbolism. When Sam is feeling agitated, the camera-work is agitated. Likewise when Sam is confused, pensive, and so on. Davis shoots from a lot of unusual angles. All of them work. Nelson also has the editing, lighting and production design match the aesthetic of the cinematography.

The editing is sometimes very choppy, but always feels "natural", just right for conveying Sam's experience. Sometimes there are odd incongruencies between sound and image, or between temporal sequences. The lighting, camera angles and production design often make some elements appropriately fantastical. The production design and costuming match not only Sam's world, but other characters' worlds, as well. Not one aspect of the film seems to have gone by without close examination and artistic justification.

The music, which largely consists of Beatles tunes performed by other artists, fits the film perfectly. Sam and his friends are all a bit obsessed with the Beatles and apparently, so were many L.

Goal members when Nelson visited. The Beatles tunes exquisitely match the various moods of the film, and the lyrics often complement emotions and actions. But even above all of that, I Am Sam tells a heart-wrenching story that's something of an exciting, emotional roller-coaster.