The One Movie Recommendation You Can’t Ignore

What is wrong with the world?

And what can we do to make it better?

I have been thinking about these questions ever since seeing a documentary over spring break. These are the questions movie director Tom Shadyac explores in his film I Am.

Tom Shadyac is known for directing comedy classics such as Ace Ventura, The Nutty Professor, and Bruce Almighty, which is what made this documentary a surprise in the film community.

What happened? What caused this change of heart?

As you can see in the trailer at the bottom of the page, Tom had a bicycle accident that gave him a concussion. He suffered from the injury for months, during which he began to re-evaluate his life. It eventually led him on a quest to interview researchers and thought leaders, asking them big life questions, including what is wrong with the world? And what can we do to make it better?

It’s difficult to capture the entire film in only a couple sentences because it covers so much about how we live, humanity, materialism, and spirituality. Not only that but the movie tugged at your emotional heartstrings one moment and backed up claims with scientific evidence the next.

I think that’s one of the reasons I liked it so much. It appealed to both the faithful and the pragmatic in me. So often we believe that things can only be explained by science or by religion, by logic or by feeling. Why does it have to be one or the other? Why not a combination of both?

Tangent: back in the fall semester, St. Mary’s Student Parish was lucky enough to have Paul Mueller, religious superior of the Jesuit Community at the Vatican Observatory, come speak at an event. He wrote a book about this topic of mixing science and religion called Would You Baptize an Extraterrestrial? It was a fascinating talk! Read about the book here and buy it here.

Anyway, Tom Shadyac’s accident and subsequent quest for truth leads him around the world and back to his roots for a moving encounter with his father. With discovery after discovery, Tom comes to terms with his two questions and undergoes a grand lifestyle transformation.

Here were a few things I took away from I Am:

• All humans are interconnected
• The heart tells the brain what to do, not vice-versa
• Everyday small acts can build and multiply to create change

I’d tell you more, but I really want you to watch this movie. It will make you think, and you will probably re-evaluate your life after watching it.

If asked what is right with the world? Could you say…

Trailer:

In the comments below, tell me:

• What is your one movie recommendation I can’t ignore?
• What can we do to make the world better?

Originally published at www.awesomeinitiative.org on March 22, 2015.

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