I Am

Some of the scientific “experts” featured in I Am are regarded as quacks within the scientific community. That’s a big problem for Tom Shadyac, the Bruce Almighty director who gets serious and investigates what’s wrong with the world and how to change it. He’s relying on these “experts” to supply his central message—namely, that we’re all connected. It’s metaphysical, you see. Shadyac jumps from anonymous expert to expert, and tosses in a few people you know and may even hold in high regard—like Desmond Tutu, Noam Chomsky and Martin Luther King Jr. But they aren’t the ones talking about the science, and it’s important to know the difference. It’s also disconcerting that Shadyac bounces from concept to concept instead of fleshing out one strong point. It’s supposed to make you feel good, but I Am is a placebo, not a panacea.