I Am Sam
“Love is all you need.”
Sam, a neurodivergent man, has a daughter with a homeless woman who abandons them when they leave the hospital, leaving Sam to raise Lucy on his own. But as Lucy grows up, Sam's limitations as a parent start to become a problem and the authorities take her away. Sam convinces high-priced lawyer Rita to take his case pro bono and in turn teaches her the value of love and family.
Genres
Drama
Studio
New Line Cinema
Language
en
Status
Released
How I Am Sam performed
Budget
$22.0M
Worldwide Gross
$92.5M
Gross Profit
$70.5M
Return
4.2× budget
Opening Wknd (est.)
$13M
Source: TMDB. Domestic/international split (~48/52, genre-typical) and the opening-weekend figure (30% of the domestic run, typical for Drama) are MoviesRankd estimates. Profit is gross revenue minus production budget and excludes marketing — studios typically need ~2–2.5× budget to break even.
Where to Watch
Cast
Sam Dawson
Sean Penn
Sam Dawson
Rita Harrison Williams
Michelle Pfeiffer
Rita Harrison Williams
Annie Cassell
Dianne Wiest
Annie Cassell
Lucy Diamond Dawson
Dakota Fanning
Lucy Diamond Dawson
Mr. Turner
Richard Schiff
Mr. Turner
Margaret Calgrove
Loretta Devine
Margaret Calgrove
Patricia
Marin Hinkle
Patricia
Randy Carpenter
Laura Dern
Randy Carpenter
Brad
Brad Silverman
Brad
Joe
Joseph Rosenberg
Joe
Robert
Stanley DeSantis
Robert
Ifty
Doug Hutchison
Ifty
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