I saw the film ‘I Am’ with my twelve-year-old brother. The documentary comes from the director of several Jim Carrey classics (Ace Ventura, Liar Liar, Bruce Almighty) among other similar comedy gems. This time, however, fart jokes get left aside to tackle some very serious issues.

The film trails Tom Shadyac following a near-death experience from a biking accident that left him with a concussion and out of commission for two months. In his own words, “Facing my own death brought an instant sense of clarity and purpose.” He comes to question the millionaire lifestyle in a world so far removed from sanity. Thus, he seeks out great minds from around the world to ask what is wrong with our world and what we can do to save it.

Featuring the likes of Noam Chomsky, the late Howard Zinn, and spiritual leader Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Shadyac unveils the bright truth about humans as a species not separate from the natural world, but very much the same as any animal, if not merely more capable of extraordinary feats of science and love. The idea comes to light, through some very interesting results of scientific research, that we are hardwired to cooperate in what most would write off as a “Utopian” fashion. Apparently it is our nature to help and truly care for our fellow human.

Still, for the time being, we do not see nearly enough love to heal hunger, poverty, or war.

This inevitably will change. It already is. As we experience more events on a regional and global level, witnessing the interconnectedness of our planet and all its inhabitants, the bond will become greater and more visible. Inspiration will proceed from the acts of love and hope we witness, and a fire of universal consciousness will spread. Some are calling it a Golden Age, right on our doorstep. Maybe a little preachy, but it sounds like a good idea to me.

The part I found most striking about the film is the linking of over-consumption to a disease. The director comments that indigenous and aboriginal cultures distributed all forms of wealth equally, notably the essentials, food and land, which no one truly “owned.” Furthermore, any individual who craved to have more than their peers was considered MENTALLY ILL. Shadyac likens this notion of greed to cancer cells that simply take more from the whole than necessary, causing an imbalance and ultimately a degradation of the body.

Overall, the film is a wake-up call for the general public, just within reach for people who might not be able to sit through and grasp the quantum physics crash course of “What the Bleep Do We Know” or the latest (and possibly most palatable) installment of the Zeitgeist series. I’m going to hold this as Shadyac’s most important contribution to the film world, just edging out “The Nutty Professor”. It’s just a shame more theaters aren’t screening many documentaries like this.