I Am (2011)

Best movie of this year hands down!

Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

In this ever strange world and times we are living in this is a must see for everyone hoping for change and peace towards one another. Tom Shadyac had a bad experience and took that time to explore a new subject. I love it because its based on Science, We all have enough Religion thrown daily to us, this is more nature related, how WE are are together on this planet, same feelings, same emotions-its all connected at some level. You can insert Religion, now to make the picture complete, so everyone is happy. Also, a good movie anyone, at any age, will enjoy and getting something, some feelings about, and will most definitely want to discuss after.

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.

If you want to get into the head of today's improperly-labeled 'intellectuals' (more like socialist propagandists), this is as good a way to do so as any I've ever seen.Let's start with one of the 'profound' quotes thrown out as some sort of brilliant observation: "An ocean, a rain-forest, the human body, are all co-operatives." False. While they are inexorably LINKED, they are in NO WAY anything close to the definition of a co-operative. Does the rain-forest make demands of the ocean, and the ocean act on those demands(or vice-verse)?! Obviously NOT! The co-operative label is clearly used improperly in order to promote a false notion that humans must therefore subjugate themselves to some all-powerful governing body. Never-mind that we are thinking individuals and water/trees are 'dead' for all practical purposes."The redwood tree doesn't take all the soil and nutrients, just what it needs to grow." Neither do you or I take ALL of ANYTHING - we BUY what we CAN. However, neither does the Redwood give a rats ass about other Redwoods, or anything else whatsoever - they take care of themselves and only themselves, where humans are the most charitable creatures on Earth."A lion doesn't kill every gazelle, just one." Apparently I make two pot roasts every night just to throw one out?! Seriously, who out there is cooking two meals every night and chucking one in the waste bin? Who are the people that actually hear this nonsense and just buy it without question? While there are examples of excesses, these are the outliers (exceptions) - not the norm. Ours is still the most efficient system on earth."We have a term for something in the body when it takes more than its share, we call it: cancer." Wow - we had the cure for cancer all along and just didn't know it - POVERTY AND STARVATION!'I Am' is a mockery propaganda piece mislabeled as a documentary, unless you want to call it a documentary of the worst in propaganda - that would be spot on. Please - if you give Tom Shadyac or his production/distribution companies one dime for this drivel, do us all a favor and move to Cuba where the citizens are, by Shadyac's very definition, healthy and as cancer-free as anyone can be in their poverty stricken and starving awesome co-operative! (while the greedy political power mongers get pretty bad cancer - Fidel Castro & buddy Hugo Chavez and the like)As for myself, I'll take our time-proved personal liberties and free market system any day over the historic and present-day atrocities perpetrated by such silver-tongued power-hungry collective governance cheerleaders.

I saw I Am at a screening a few weeks before it came out in theaters. After the film, Tom Shadyac himself entered the auditorium and answered any questions we viewers had. I Am is one of the best documentaries I have ever seen. Well, I can admit that it could have been better in terms of a movie, but the subject matter is great, and Tom Shadyac is totally correct.Tom Shadyac has mostly been known for directing comedies, such as Ace Ventura and Bruce Almighty, and making money from the successes of his movies. He was behaving more or less like many people with that much money do, especially filmmakers - just grabbing for money. However, after suffering a terrible bicycle accident resulting in a concussion and a very near death, Shadyac began to realize the true values in life, and how his wrong capitalist lifestyle had been. As a result, he made this documentary. Now, there have been many statements, speculations, documentaries, etc. on problems with our world, but Tom Shadyac's is different. He actually goes deeper looking for a common cause for all of these other problems.Humans have evolved and formed a society based on competition. As a matter of fact, we base our lifestyles, customs, etc. too much upon competition - making money, the economy, fighting, etc. However, other animals - fish, birds, deer, you name it - have taken a more natural way of life - cooperation. Tom points out evidence to this in several natural scenarios, typical stuff, yet with an element to it that I have never really noticed before. He shows us a few examples such as some schools of fish and a group of deer, in which essences of democracy and cooperation are clearly evident. We, humans, like I said before, have come to value competition more than cooperation - money, work, etc. I'm not saying, and nor is Tom, that we should stop being competitive altogether and become totally cooperative. All we're saying is that we need to also value cooperation more, and establish a better balance between competition and cooperation/love.Wow, I am pretty bad at explaining this, especially since it has now been a long time since I saw the film. However, I do still remember it - well, mostly the overall message. It really can't be fully explained - it must be seen. Yes, this documentary is a must-see for everybody - every single person, from every culture, every race, every region, etc. - who has any access to movie theaters, or some means of watching movies. There is some ridiculous stuff in the film, mostly concerning science, etc., but even so, a lot of the film is good, and the deep message of it is strong and important. Even if you end up hating it, just go see it anyway, and just listen and watch. Then, afterward, start acting upon what you just saw - even the smallest actions have an effect, on everything.What's wrong with the world? A lot of things. What's right with the world? I Am. You are.My Rating: **** (out of ****)For more reviews, visit my website: http://robertsreliablereviews.blogspot.com