I AM – Reviewed by Will

As he relates in the film, Mr. Shadyac was prompted to ask these questions after a bicycling injury which forced him to confront his shallow wealth and concussion-induced depression. He gets a variety of answers from the people he interviews, sometimes even contradictions. Early on, his film suggests that the worldview imparted by science, and especially by Charles Darwin, is a dark, mechanistic one which impels us to kill and exploit each other for profit. A little later, the tone shifts–it turns out Darwin actually wrote more about love than the survival of the fittest, and a great deal of time is spent invoking “science” that proves we are all interconnected at the quantum level and that yogurt reacts to our emotions. (Mr. Shadyac admits that while he participated in the yogurt experiment, “scientific protocol was relaxed.”)

The basic gist that he comes away with is that human beings are wired to help each other and that modern society has corrupted us with the desire to compete for success. I would personally say that everything I’ve ever read about history and evolutionary biology tends to refute the latter notion, and that human beings are in fact growing more peaceful and cooperative thanks to urban civilization and technology. We may feel sometimes like the world is spinning out of control, but I reckon our standards are just getting higher. I’m very grateful that I live in a world where I’ve lost more family members to cancer than to ritual sacrifice and war. Our tribal ancestors, whom Mr. Shadyac idealizes, would not be able to say the same.

Many people will regard I Am as an inspirational feel good movie. Mr. Shadyac definitely wants you to feel something. The interviews are interwoven with rapid-fire cuts of emotionally-charged imagery, from flocks of butterflies and ocean waves to goose-stepping soldiers and even graphic footage of a patient’s eyeball being sliced open (for a little fun, try turning off the sound and humming Beethoven’s 9th). I’m probably getting carried away and being unfair here. I’m convinced that this movie was made with the best intentions and should be credited for that. Tom Shadyac comes across as a mostly earnest and inquisitive guy who wants to spread a positive message to the world. He did in fact give away much of his Hollywood wealth. He did indeed move out of his palatial Beverly Hills estate and into a trailer park. So what if it’s the exclusive Paradise Cove trailer park in Malibu where most of the mobile homes sell for well upwards of $1 million?

The best advice the movie gives comes from the Dalai Lama, who is not interviewed but rather, inevitably, invoked. His suggestion? “The best meditation is critical thinking followed by action.” I just wish Mr. Shadyac had used a little more critical thinking when he was plugged into the yogurt. – [DVD]

Not Rated