The many faces of Sean Penn

“I Am Sam” (2001)

Penn the Handicapped Hero: From “Carlito’s Way” to “Sweet and Lowdown,” Penn has shown an uncanny knack of playing characters whose behaviors put them at the fringe of society. In “I Am Sam,” he took that to the extreme, playing a mentally handicapped father trying to prove to the state that he can indeed be the sole caretaker of a child (Dakota Fanning). The melodrama was a little too obvious, and Penn’s performance was a little too forced for “I Am Sam” to rise to the ranks of the actor’s previous work. More than one critic noted the film reeked of Oscar bait—but it worked, securing Penn his third nomination.