Sam

After reading the positive reviews here, I thought that this was possibly one of those underrated movies that don't catch on because the plot was too feminist-driven or silly or whatever. Boy, was I wrong.

At first I thought the acting was bad (and it was at times), but then I realized that it wasn't the actors as much as it was a combination of a terrible script, terrible direction and sub-par production.

I expected the movie to play up some of the gender norm clichés, so as to highlight the change from Sam to Samantha. But this movie goes further than that. It is clear that everybody involved in the final production of this movie has never met a real person in their life. The clichés were not funny but offensive. I have to imagine this movie was written by some rich kid in Beverly Hills and their connected parents helped to pay for production.

Every character was a ridiculous caricature. I don't know who I am offended for more, men or women. Even the non-gender things were clichéd, like the names of things. Every line felt like it was written by a young high school student. I mean there's concise, and then there is straight to the point regardless as to whether the dialogue is believable or not.

This movie was not funny, not smart, not well put together, and not worth your time.

I gave it three stars: The first because it IS a movie. The second for giving out-of work actors some screen time. ...?

Really quite enjoyed the film. Lead actress was good and played part well.

Had us guessing until the end, which you need to watch

Sam is a corny but not entirely un-entertaining film. It follows a playboy who finds himself magically transformed into a woman, and must try to acclimatise to his new body as he seeks a way to reverse the change.

It's all highly stereotyped and on the nose, and is the kind of humour you'd expect. Subtlety is not its strong suit at all. That being said, there are some fun scenes and it is an interesting scenario to play around with. The story is engaging enough, watching Sam discover what it is to be a woman and slowly adapt to his new life. It takes a few wild turns I suppose, but does kind of end in a satisfactory way.

The performances are actually not too bad. Natalie Knepp plays the role of a man suddenly in a woman's body and trying to cope with that really well. She's the highlight and gets all the comedy moments which she does well.

Ultimately though this whole thing just feels insanely low budget. The sets, the camera work, the editing. It all looks quite cheap.

On the whole then, if the concept appeals to you you will probably have some fun with this film, but it feels very awkward in places and not executed particularly well.

Simple story and very enjoyable. My first time seeing Natalie Knepp. And she was good.

The premise is hardly original, but it is developed here in a competent, direct and uplifting way.

Many of the scenes and much of the characterization are definitely on the unsubtle side, but I think that works well in the end. The characters are well established and grow in interesting and convincing ways. I particularly liked the interactions between Margaret and Samantha.