I Am (2011)

Sick Product of a Sick System

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

After telling us in no uncertain terms that science is nonsense—because people once thought the earth was flat—in the opening minutes, Shadyac goes on to speak to a scientist about how great it is that science can tell us how many particles of argon are in the air, before talking to a bunch of pseudoscientists about how our hearts are psychic and yoghurt has feelings.As he has it, since quantum mechanics seems to suggest that electrons can be into two places at once, the yoghurt on the table must be responding to his emotions. Not the other guy's, nor the camera guy's, mind you. Can't seem to make any logical connection between one hypothesis and the other, or think the experiment is a bit iffy? Then you have been brainwashed by Big Business, or something.And it must be true, because a dude who can't get hired to direct in Hollywood anymore sold up and moved to a smaller place in Malibu and then made a movie about how enlightened that proves he is.My sister is not talking to me because I mocked her praise of this film. I stand by my decision.

My biggest problem with this documentary is that it doesn't make mention of one inescapable fact: Killer Instinct has been hard-wired into our DNA. Thom Hartmann (whose show I watch every day on Free Speech TV) points out that "Democracy is in our DNA." And he's right. But so is Killer Instinct. In fact, based on a lifetime of observation, I'd venture that Killer Instinct is Man's strongest drive. The evidence is all around us. (As I write this, the Israelis have just murdered more than 700 Palestinians in Gaza, the Russians are doing essentially the same thing in the Ukraine, and the good ol' U.$. is "conducting operations" in at least half a dozen countries around the world- including having a third go at Iraq.) Democracy may well be ingrained in the DNA of OTHER animals, but as for US... I'll believe it when I see it.

I Am is a documentary by director Tom Shadyac, best known for Ace Ventura: Pet Detective and Bruce Almighty. He suffered serious injuries in a bicycle accident which caused him to reevaluate his place in the world. In doing so, he came to the conclusion that he was part of the problem and as a result he sold his 17,000 square foot home in Beverly Hills and gave up a private jet, among other things. Through interviews with great thinkers, such as Howard Zinn and Noam Chomsky, he analyzes the meaning of life and with several scientists, concludes that we are all connected in many ways. At one point, we meet his father, who, it turns out was one of the founders of St. Jude's Children's hospital, along with Danny Thomas. He has inherited his dad's need to make a difference in the world. His optimistic outlook for our future may be misguided, but I give him credit for being a good example to the rest of us.

Does Shadyac want a medal for moving into a (rather nice, upscale) mobile home lot in Malibu?This movie has no point. It is 90 minutes of some rich Hollywood guy who almost dies, has an epiphany that "Hey, maybe I've been a greedy bastard these past 20 years and maybe there's more to life than private jets, luxury cars and fancy homes," and makes a movie about it. In which he shows picture after picture after picture of his luxury homes and himself standing in front of a private jet and a luxury car. Three times we see the same photo of him standing on the tarmac. The thesis of his movie is something along the lines of Nature is holistic, all Living Things are of One, Man is by his own nature Good and full of Empathy and the Heart is more powerful than the brain. He takes sound bites from interviews with some popular academics such as Noam Chomsky and David Suzuki (neither of whom I think actually buy into his hippy Gaia hypothesis full scale). We are programmed by society, by competitive sports and spelling bees, to go against our Nature of Cooperation. Everyone is nice if just given the chance!He argues that Man can have revolution through peaceful means and that one person CAN make difference. And then he uses Gandhi as his example. Wow, one example out of thousands of years of war. He also gives a nod to Mandela, the Dali Lama, Martin Luther King. But he doesn't delve any deeper than that. He does not ask why Man can be Bad. But he is ecstatic that he can make yogurt smile.He really does not SAY ANYTHING in this winding, melancholic ramble. He does not offer The Answers. Which is kind of important seeing as he begins the movie asking his Two Questions. It is basically 90 minutes of being privy to some guy wonder about stuff. Wonder about Life as he stares up at the clouds and out at the rolling waves of the ocean from the private beach in his gated (mobile home) community.