LOVE IS ALL YOU NEED.
Sam Dawson (Sean Penn), a man with the mental capacity of a 7-year-old, has a daughter (Dakota Fanning) of that age, but the authorities want to place her in a foster home. A film that raises a difficult issue ā when is a parent unfit enough to have his child taken away from him? Mixed reviews indicate that your verdict on the film depends on whether you fall for its manipulations or not; they’re pretty obvious, from the soundtrack of pleasant Beatles covers to Penn’s sweet and admittedly credible performance. Good moments here and there, but the clichĆ©s never turn into something moving and profound.
2001-U.S. 132 min. Color. Directed byĀ Jessie Nelson. Cast: Sean Penn (Sam Dawson), Michelle Pfeiffer (Rita Harrison Williams), Dianne Wiest (Annie Cassell), Dakota Fanning (Lucy Diamond Dawson), Richard Schiff, Loretta Devine… Laura Dern, Mary Steenburgen.
Trivia: Remade in India as I Am Like This (2005).Ā
