Sam does well, despite his disorder, and manages to live on his own and hold a job at Starbucks as a busboy. Very early in the movie, it is brought to our attention that Sam had previous relations with a homeless woman (whom he let stay in his apartment for some time) and she was pregnant. We see Sam rush to the hospital and watch as his baby girl is born; it’s very clear that Sam understands she is his daughter, and that he needs to take care of her. The woman runs away as soon as they leave the hospital, and Sam is left alone with his daughter, who he names Lucy Diamond (after the Beatles song). Throughout the movie, we see Lucy grow up, and watch her struggles in school as she gets intellectually older than Sam. Lucy and Sam’s neighbor, Annie, are the most important people in Sam’s life. Besides these two people, Sam doesn’t seem to have a family support system. Mentioned later in the movie, Sam’s father ran away when he was born, resulting him being placed in an institution once his mother became too sick to care for him. In the movie, it is not made clear about what institution Sam was placed in, if he received any education, or when he left the institution. Sam does have a support group, though, made of up 4 other men, all who have disabilities of varying degrees (including Down Syndrome and schizophrenia). They, along with Annie, help Sam to care for Lucy, and raise her to be healthy and smart. Lucy understands that her dad is different, and she accepts him with all her heart, making it clear to a doubting Sam that she is lucky to have him for a dad. In the social world, Sam seems to feel most comfortable at his job at Starbucks. It’s clear that all the usual patrons know Sam, and understand his disability for the most part. His coworkers and boss are all nice to him, and he seems to thrive at his job. Later in the movie, Sam even gets a promotion to make coffee, where he quickly learns that it is much different from just delivering it. Sam’s disability …show more content…
Since Sam works at Starbucks and owns his own apartment, he doesn’t have much money to spare, nor was he a good case to fight for, so he has trouble finding a good lawyer. He finally meets a famous lawyer, who decides to work for Sam pro bono, but only because she wants the good publicity. After many hours in court and long nights rehearsing what to say on the stand, the lawyer and Sam finally win Lucy back. Throughout the process, Sam helps the lawyer realize some wrongs in her life, and changes her life for the better. This is an example of Sam’s direct impact on his