''Josh and S.A.M.'' is a 1993 American

road A road is a thoroughfare used primarily for movement of traffic. Roads differ from streets, whose primary use is local access. They also differ from stroads, which combine the features of streets and roads. Most modern roads are paved. Th ...

comedy-drama Comedy drama (also known by the portmanteau dramedy) is a hybrid genre of works that combine elements of comedy and Drama (film and television), drama. In film, as well as scripted television series, serious dramatic subjects (such as death, il ...

film starring Noah Fleiss (in his film debut), Jacob Tierney, and

Martha Plimpton Martha Plimpton (born November 16, 1970) is an American actress and member of the Carradine family. She started her career as a teen actress in film before transitioning to adult roles on stage and screen. She has received several awards includ ...

. The film is about two young brothers who run away from home due to emotional conflict over the divorce of their parents. It was directed by Billy Weber and produced by

Martin Brest Martin Brest (born August 8, 1951) is an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. After his feature debut, ''Going in Style'' (1979), he directed the action comedies ''Beverly Hills Cop'' (1984) and ''Midnight Run'' (1988), which were ...

Plot

Twelve-year-old Josh Whitney and his seven-year-old brother Sam are on their way from their mother’s house in the

San Fernando Valley The San Fernando Valley, known locally as the Valley, is an urbanized valley in Los Angeles County, Los Angeles County, California. Situated to the north of the Los Angeles Basin, it comprises a large portion of Los Angeles, the Municipal corpo ...

region of

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

to go stay with their father Thom and his new family in

Orlando, Florida Orlando ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Orange County, Florida, United States. The city proper had a population of 307,573 at the 2020 census, making it the fourth-most populous city in Florida behind Jacksonville, Florida, Jacksonville ...

. Their mother is engaged and set to remarry a man Josh doesn’t particularly care for. Josh, feeling he is the black sheep of his dad’s new family, wants to get revenge on Sam for always siding with their stepbrothers, unintentionally brainwashes his younger brother making him believe that he is a genetically designed child warrior and that his name is an acronym for "Strategically Altered Mutant.” After a series of coincidences in Josh's lies, Sam eventually believes that he is a S.A.M. Meanwhile at dinner, Thom tells the boys that they have to fly back to California to get their belongings from their California home and bring them to Thom's house, because their mother and her fiancé are planning on moving to Europe for a year and the boys will move in with Thom. On the way to California, a thunderstorm grounds the boys’ flight in

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

forcing them to stay in a hotel for the night. Josh, frustrated with his family situation decides to abandon Sam and his life at the hotel. As the hotel staff is on watch, Josh crashes a high-school reunion and lies that his mother was a graduate. While crashing the event, Josh meets Derek Baxter, a drunken man claiming to have been in a relationship with the woman whose pin he took. Before Josh has time to clear his lie, Sam appears and joins the two. Derek drives the boys to a random house, where Josh breaks into with the hope of calling the police. Upon entering the home, Derek sees a picture of the real family and goes after Josh for lying to him about everything leading up to the break-in. In self-defense, Sam hits Derek with a billiard ball and Josh hits him on the head with a pool cue, knocking him unconscious. Fearing they murdered Derek, the boys flee the scene, stealing his rental car in the process. With Josh in possession of copies of his new stepfather’s credit and debit cards, the boys drive the stolen car across the

Western United States The Western United States (also called the American West, the Western States, the Far West, the Western territories, and the West) is List of regions of the United States, census regions United States Census Bureau. As American settlement i ...

, where they encounter Allison, a runaway from

Hannibal, Missouri Hannibal is a city along the Mississippi River in Marion County, Missouri, Marion and Ralls County, Missouri, Ralls counties in the U.S. state of Missouri. According to the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. Census, the population was 17,108, ...

, who the boys believe is “The Liberty Maid” in a coincidental situation based on another of Josh’s lies. Allison travels with the boys along the way, as the trio evade authorities. During a night stop in a motel, Sam steals the car and abandons it on the side of the road. Josh finds the stolen car, only to find that it broke down, takes a bus and sees Sam stowing on the back of a tractor-trailer unit and exits the bus, reuniting at the border crossing, illegally entering into

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

through a fence. Josh tries several attempts to tell Sam the truth of his lies, and sends him on a flight back to Orlando. Josh, who is feeling unwanted, stays in Canada. Sam arrives in Orlando, where he tells Thom of Josh’s whereabouts. Thom tells Sam that he went to Dallas and talked to the Dallas police and the police told Thom that Derek wasn't killed by Josh, but rather knocked unconscious from the pool cue. Josh arrives back to Orlando, and Sam greets him by turning the tables, using the computer file trick about a file on him.

Cast

* Jacob Tierney as Joshua "Josh" Whitney * Noah Fleiss as Samuel "Sam" / "Killer Sam" Whitney * Stephen Tobolowsky as Thomas "Thom" Whitney *

Joan Allen Joan Allen (born August 20, 1956) is an American actress. Known for her work on stage and screen, she has received a Tony Award as well as nominations for three Academy Awards, a BAFTA Award, three Primetime Emmy Awards, and three Golden Globe Awa ...

as Caroline Whitney LaTourette *

Chris Penn Christopher Shannon Penn (October 10, 1965 – January 24, 2006), credited as Chris Penn after 1991, was an American actor. He was the brother of actor Sean Penn and musician Michael Penn. Noted as a skilled character actor, he was typically cas ...

as Derek Baxter *

as Alison (The Liberty Maid) *

Maury Chaykin Maury Alan Chaykin (July 27, 1949 – July 27, 2010) was an American-Canadian actor. Described as "one of the most recognizable faces in Canadian cinema," he was best known for his portrayal of Rex Stout's detective Nero Wolfe on the televi ...

as Pizza Man *

Udo Kier Udo Kierspe (born 14 October 1944), known professionally as Udo Kier, is a German actor. Known primarily as a character actor, he has appeared in more than 220 films in both leading and supporting roles throughout Europe and the Americas. He has ...

as Tanning Salon Manager * Ronald Guttman as Jean-Pierre "J.P." LaTourette * Ann Hearn as Teacher * Anne Lange as Ellen Coleman Whitney * Sean Baca as Curtis Coleman *

Jake Gyllenhaal Jacob Benjamin Gyllenhaal ( , ; born December 19, 1980) is an American actor who has worked on screen and stage for over thirty years. Born into the Gyllenhaal family, he is the son of film director Stephen Gyllenhaal and screenwriter Naomi ...

as Leon Coleman *

Amy Wright Amy Wright is an American actress and former model. She has appeared in such films as '' The Deer Hunter'', '' Breaking Away'', '' The Accidental Tourist'', '' Hard Promises'', '' Crossing Delancey'', and '' Miss Firecracker''. She is the wido ...

as Waitress * Brent Hinkley as Bill at Reunion

Production

Principal photography began on August 3, 1992. Filming locations include

Billings, Montana Billings is the most populous Lists of populated places in the United States, city in the U.S. state of Montana, with a population of 117,116 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located in the south-central portion of the state, i ...

Laurel, Montana Laurel is a city in Yellowstone County, Montana, United States and the third largest community in the Billings Metropolitan Statistical Area. Laurel is located in the Yellowstone Valley as an east–west terminal division point of the BNSF Rai ...

, and along Highway 3 in Yellowstone County. Other parts of the film were shot in

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake Ci ...

Arches National Park Arches National Park is a List of national parks of the United States, national park of the United States in eastern Utah. The park is adjacent to the Colorado River, north of Moab, Utah. The park contains more than 2,000 natural arch, natural ...

, Highway 191, Lisbon Valley, and Spanish Valley in

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

and Calgary, Canada. Filming lasted for 69 days and concluded on October 11, 1992.

Release

The film premiered on November 24, 1993, at Planet Hollywood in New York City. Jacob Tierney, Noah Fleiss, and their families attended the premiere, but none of the other actors and none of the crew members attended it. The film was released on home video on April 27, 1994 by New Line Home Video, followed by a reissue from PolyGram Video in 1998.

MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...

, the current rights holder, has no intention of releasing it to DVD or Blu-ray.

Reception

The film received negative reviews from critics. It received a rating of 25% on Rotten Tomatoes, based on eight reviews.

References

External links

* * * * {{Mojo title, joshandsam 1993 films 1990s coming-of-age comedy-drama films 1990s road comedy-drama films American coming-of-age comedy-drama films American road comedy-drama films Castle Rock Entertainment films Columbia Pictures films Fictional duos New Line Cinema films Films scored by Thomas Newman Films shot in Utah 1993 directorial debut films 1990s English-language films 1990s American films English-language road comedy-drama films