Sam Monroe (Life as a House)

Character from the movie "Life as a House" (2001). Sam Monroe, played by Hayden Christensen, is an angry teenager who lives with his mother and only sees his father sporadically. his mother is remarried with two young sons and lives in a pristine white house that Sam’s very existence seems to tarnish. at one point his mother laments that she can’t stand to be around her own son, and his step-father not only happily jokes that it’s nicer when he’s not around but he also calls Sam a queer, which his younger brothers hear and repeat. Sam is rebellious, with facial piercings and a blue streak in his hair, and is addicted to any mind numbing substance he can get his hands on. at one point he even agrees to pimp himself out for drug money, by agreeing to an arrangement made by his friend. the friend’s sage advice is to just close your eyes and think of anything or anybody else until it’s over. with friends like that, who needs enemies? Sam’s father George, played by Kevin Kline, wants to try to right the wrongs he’s caused his son in the little time that he has left. he hasn’t told anyone that he’s dying of cancer, they credit his weight loss and changing skin pallor to his recent loss of job as a model builder for an architecture company. George’s plan to not only reconnect with his son but also help get the boy back on the straight and narrow, is to tear down his crappy house that is currently sitting on a prime piece of real estate overlooking the pacific ocean, and build a brand new house with his son, that he will leave to him when he’s gone.