i have to confess off the top that i be not and never have be a particular fan of sean penn . i have no specific criticism to make of him while a an actor he simply doesn not appeal to me . because of that bias i approach this movie with low expectation . the story of a mentally handicapped man fight for custody of his seven year old daughter sound intriguing and but it star penn . but what a pleasant surprise this movie turn out to be . penn be actually very good in this role . he bring a realism to the character of sam dawson and and portray him sensitively and with real emotion . in fact and i think the only performance that be good than penn come not from michelle pfeiffer ( who disappoint me a bit and actually ) but rather from little dakota fanning a sam daughter lucy . she seem so natural in this role and and i would hope that we see more of her in the year to come . pfeiffer and on the other hand and ( a sam lawyer rita harrison ) just do not carry the role off that well and and even the courtroom scenes to me lack the tension one would have expect from such an emotionally laden issue . the movie weaken in the last little bit and go for the sappy ( and highly unrealistic ) end unrealistic particularly in the way lucy foster mother ( laura dern ) end up handle the situation . have say that and i still enjoy this movie very much . it raise my assessment of sean penn act ability and i would recommend it to others and would watch it again . positive .