Don’t you know your Sam?
I didn’t think it belonged in the overall review, but “Return of the King” definitely cemented my undying love for Sean Astin. In a lot of ways “Lord of the Rings” is really Sam’s story more than Frodo’s, and Astin carries it off beautifully.
Sam’s emotional highlight, I think, was in “The Two Towers,” with his speech about the old stories and what they meant. But even in “Return,” there were moments like when Sam finally appears at Frodo’s bedside at the end. I turned to Lisa with an unmistakable “awwww” expression, and she responded, “Who could not love that face?”
So true.
Sam is the “hero” and has always been. The servant of the hobbit, the least among the creatures in middle earth, lower than the low, becomes greater than all and saves everyone. That’s the underlying theme. Disclosure: I totally missed this until a friend pointed it out to me like a month ago.
I’d like that face better if it was in my lap. Heroically, that is.