Tom Shadyac’s I AMJanuary 04, 2012
Gravitas
On Demand Weekly provides new movie reviews of hot movies on demand from the POV of watching from the comfort of your home. I AM.
I AM
Part of the Solution or Part of the Problem
By Kris Scheifele
The 'I am' in this film's title is not a twist on the Cartesian cogito ergo sum. I AM gets its name from a response to a question posed to G.K. Chesterton, a British writer who died in 1936. The London Times asked him to write an essay in response to the question, "What is wrong with the world?" Chesterton's essay was brief; he wrote, "I am." This documentary asks the same question, and the one that logically follows, "What can we do about it?" By posing these questions, Tom Shadyac, I AM's director, enters the conversation about competition, material excess, and separation. He also finds what's right with the world — cooperative community, conservation, and compassion.
This is Shadyac's debut as a documentarian, but you may know him from a few little ditties like ACE VENTURA: PET DETECTIVE and THE NUTTY PROFESSOR. Some years back, Shadyac's blind feasting on comedy gold's robust bounty was interrupted by an accident which left him with post-concussion syndrome. The months of physical and emotional suffering made him notice some things outside his Hollywood bubble. Recuperating at home he says, "I saw AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH again. I see more news about the war in Iraq and I see poverty and I keep thinking that these are not the problems, there's a poison underneath." Shadyac also noticed that all his achievements and monetary success had not brought him happiness. (What's that? Money can't buy happiness?) The way he describes it, his illness forever shifted his priorities and the role he wanted to play in life.
It's hard to be critical of a film with high-minded aims, especially when it's blessed by Oprah. However, despite Shadyac's claim that the film is his story, it really isn't. It's another doc dealing in generalities, albeit noble ones. The story of Shadyac's transformation bookends the film: we get a brief glimpse of the conditions which inspired the film, and at the end, we find out that he traded in his mansion and all his high-end crap for modest digs in a mobile home community and biking to work.
In between these bookends, we hear from pundits, most notably Desmond Tutu, Noam Chomsky, and Howard Zinn. Here, we get some real zingers. For instance, most of us, save Mother Theresa and Gandhi, are "self-interest" machines. (Ouch!) We also hear that "we fashion our world on the idea of needing to be significant at someone else's expense." (Ooof!) On graphic cards of the cosmos, we get quotes from more pundits like Einstein, St. Francis of Assisi, and Jesus. (Heard of them?) Generously peppered through stock-footage montages set against soaring orchestral backdrops, are shots of anthropomorphised wild animals 'compassionately' helping one another. It's stereotypical 'documentary 101,' which is surprising coming from such a seasoned pro. You would think he could add more visual and structural flair.
We do see a little of what Shadyac gave up — pool, fine art, a very big lawn — but nothing about what he did with the loot from his material purges and none of the expected philanthropic acts. He may have put his money to charitable use, but this information is not in the film. In fact, there are hardly any personal interactions that would reveal his freshly-minted character. Isn't that one of the first rules of filmmaking? Actions reveal character; don't tell us you've had an epiphany, show us!
There are a few tidbits of information that redeem the film. For one, did you know that the heart emanates electro-magnetic waves that reflect your emotional state? The wave on the heart monitor looks one way when you're angry and another when you feel love, and others can pick up on this even if you try to hide it. In a rare moment of Shadyac-in-action, he sits before a lump of yogurt, which is attached by electrodes to a meter. Just talking about the unpleasant people in his life — agent, lawyer, ex-wife — makes the meter swing, a reflection of the effect his negative emotions have on the living organisms in the yogurt. Yup, we're that powerful.
So yes, let's share our overabundance, let's be kind to one another, let's make a better world through small, seemingly insignificant acts. As for watching the films of Tom Shadyac, stick with his comedies, I am.
Kris Scheifele is a new contributing writer to On Demand Weekly. She's an award winning television writer, producer, and editor and has worked on such projects as Sundance Channel's "Anatomy of a Scene" and Jessica Yu's documentary about outsider artist Henry Darger, IN THE REALMS OF THE UNREAL. Based in NYC, she's also an artist and arts writer.
I AM is On Demand.
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