'Sam' Film Review
'Sam' is a romantic comedy directed by Nicholas Brooks, son of famed actor/writer/director/producer Mel Brooks (he gets an executive producer credit for this film). When a douchy man named Sam drunkenly stumbles into an antique shop, he is offered tea by the owner. Upon awakening the next morning, Sam finds that he has been transformed into a woman.
Sam, now Samantha, must learn the ins and outs of what it's like to be a woman, as she faces problems like gender inequality in the workplace, being objectified by men, and the different emotional and physical states in his (her?) new body. As Samantha gets acclamated into her new job (Sam's old job), she begins feeling more confident and eventuall begins to have feelings for her (his?) best friend, Doc. After weeks of transitioning between genders, Samantha and Doc come to grips with their mutual feelings and develop a romantic relationship, as Sam chooses to remain as a woman.
I totally get what the director was going for in terms of the messages and themes of this film. Brooks did a good job in that sense, relating the struggles of both women and transgendered people in society and in the workplace. Natalie Knepp (Samantha) was very believable as a woman that doesn't know how to be a woman, as she was initially very awkward, clumsy, and confused. The rest of the cast, however, weren't all that great. They felt very stiff and seemed to be over-acting a lot of the time. The male characters, like Sam's boss, Seymour, were completely one-dimensional and portrayed as mindless dopes, making them unlikeable and unrealistic. Doc's fiance, Cynthia (Sarah Scott), was a very annoying character and the actress playing her wasn't good at all.
I also had an issue with the pacing and editing of the film, as it felt uneven at times and the scene transitions felt cheaply done. I thought the music, especially in the first half of the film, was strange and out of place. I didn't really care for the first half of the movie at all, but found myself liking the second half more, as the plots became more realized. This film could have been edited down to get more to the point and not spend so much time with schlocky characters. While I can appreciate the themes presented in this film, overall I didn't really like it all that much, as it just isn't the type of film that interests me.
My rating: 5 out of 10
