Sam (Nicholas Brooks, 2015): USA

Reviewed by: Cameron Krul. Viewed at the 2015 AFI Film Festival

Sam is a story about a self righteous misogynistic alpha male who has no respect for women, and one night drunkenly stumbles into mysterious shop in New York City where the elderly owner of the shop offers him a mysterious drink that he passes off to Sam as tea. Sam drinks the tea while the old shop owner tells a historical story of a woman who helped George Washington and others escape the British during the American Revolutionary War. After Sam finishes his drink and the story is over Sam leaves the shop, and continues home where he then wakes up the next morning as a woman. Now Sam must learn how to live as a woman, and her experiences cause her to have a few revelations throughout the film showing her how much of a jerk she was when she was a man.

The idea for the film is not a completely original, yet it is still a very interesting one. The film brings to light many social issues that women in our world face on a daily basis like harassment, being paid less than they’re male counterparts, lack of respect from men, and many social double standards. Even though these social issues are brought up throughout the plot the director still is able to manage to make the movie a very funny, and enjoyable experience without it being too serious. The director seems to have found a good blend for seriousness and comedy in this film.

This film was certainly one of my favorites from the festival, and it was without a doubt the funniest. I had a great experience watching this movie, and it was not too long at about 100 min. I find that it is the perfect length for a good comedy film. If you are a fan of laughing, and having an enjoyable film watching experience I would definitely recommend you watch this movie. It’s a good one.