I Am – Film Review

Not many people would know who Tom Shadyac is unless you mention that he directed the famous comedy films Bruce Almighty, Ace Ventura and Patch Adams. But he has also directed a documentary – one that takes on a very different tone than his other films.

I Am explores the questions “what’s wrong with the world and what can we do about it?”

The idea for the film came about after Shadyac had a bicycle accident and ended up having post concussion syndrome for months afterwards. This led to him asking the above questions and setting out to find answers.

In the film he speaks to a variety of people – from academics (like Noam Chomsky), religious leaders (like Archbishop Desmond Tutu) to entrepreneurs (like Ray Anderson) who all offer very insightful and fundamentally similar answers.

The film also explores the human condition asking whether humans by their very nature are more inclined to cooperate or dominate, and looks at how nature can answer that question. It also asks whether we have lost our way by going after ‘things’ and forgetting our fellow human beings.

I found the film very interesting and inspiring because it reveals sides to humans and life that I hadn’t thought of before.

By speaking to a variety of different people the film offers some profound answers and perspectives to the above questions, and since Shadyac is an experienced film maker the documentary flows very smoothly from one idea to another.

I rate this film 4 out of 5.

By Friedel Marquardt