Spanglish (2004)

I was surprised about how much I liked this movie. I didn't want to watch it initially, but I'm glad I did. The acting was excellent (even by Adam Sandler) and it presented a variety of conflicting emotions. I'm impressed.

So much is wrong with this movie and I don't blame the cast because they all did a good job, it's the script that bothers me. Going into this, I expected it to be one of those non-formula Sandler pictures (no fart jokes, frequent outbursts, Rob Schneider, etc.) and what I got instead was a convoluted mess with a terrible ending. I have no issues with the guy doing dramatic roles but this didn't work in the slightest. Plus, the algorithm is messed up. Why is this turd of a film rated a 6.5???!!Adam Sandler plays a chef at a restaurant and his wife is an absolute psychopath. I'm not trying to be harsh but her character is a gold digging mooch of a whore. If I was in his shoes, I would have dumped the bitch around the 80-90 minute mark. This Paz Vega is gorgeous and she gives a decent performance.What I didn't like about this is how overlong it is and how things don't get resolved. I'm not saying make the movie short or resolve everything, but at least put more effort into it than this. You're praying that Sandler finally kicks out his ditsy wife and gets with Vega but that never happens. The biggest issue with Adam Sandler's character in this movie is that he's too much of a coward. There's a scene where he yells, "I QUIT THIS JOB TOO!" and yet does nothing about it. I'm trying not to spoil anything but the ending was so frustrating that I asked myself why I wasted two hours of my life on this junk.Avoid this garbage, this gets a 4 out of 10.

This is a wonderful and inspiring story about a family with flaws and two new members welcomed into that family.And of course it is the story of a Latina girl who has the chance to stand out among many equally qualified candidates for Princeton. Aimee Garcia does quite nicely narrating.Tea Leoni as Deborah is pretty but comes across as shallow, really trying to be nice but constantly messing up. It's a fine performance. One of the best scenes has her enthusiastically welcoming Cristina, the beautiful daughter she didn't know Flor had, because now she can have a perfect daughter too. Her own daughter is not physically attractive and is overweight but not unhealthy, and can never seem to please her. And yes, Bernice notices this.Paz Vega reminds me of Salma Hayek, at least in appearance. But both are quality actresses too. Flor is so pleasant and loving but she can get upset when the situation calls for it. And of course once the time comes, she is determined to learn English.Shelbie Bruce does a wonderful job. Her best scene is one where she must translate for her mother, but she does more than merely say the words. She effectively communicates her mother's emotions as well. It's like a scene from "Freaky Friday". And she has another standout moment where John is only kidding but she really seems upset about what he said.Sarah Steele is also likable as the not so perfect Bernice. There's nothing so wrong with her. She's just an ordinary girl, like most girls.Cloris Leachman does her usual wonderful job, especially later in the movie. She mostly just has funny lines which add a lot, but as Deborah's mother advising her daughter who is falling apart, she really stands out.Adam Sandler is the weak link here. That only means everyone in a major role is good, and he is just the least talented among them. He does a great job playing Adam Sandler, the one who is not a loser and is mostly nice. John is quite a likable character. And yet there's nothing really special. John has lessons to learn here but he's less flawed than his wife. And of course he has a difficult choice when he must decide career or family, and his family means everything.I did think Georgie wasn't used enough. That may be the only real weakness here.The ending leaves us wondering. That's all I will say.Is it a family-friendly film? Not quite, but older children should be fine with it. Even younger children might be able to handle the version I saw, which may have been cleaned up for TV.Regardless, it is a worthy effort.

In the movie Spanglish, we find one of Adam Sandler's less familiar works where he plays a more serious role. In this movie we find a young girl and her mother traveling to United States from Mexico in hopes of finding a new life and what they found was something they would have never expected. The stereotypical American family in need of a nanny or housemaid would provide the little Mexican family with their first examples of American life. There are moments of heartache and amusement all at the same time, this romantic comedy is surely members of the whole family can enjoy.Adam Sandler portrays the role of the father and caretaker of the American family that the Mexican family comes to live with. This role develops throughout the film; however, doesn't truly exemplify his comedic talents as well as in his other films. Tea Leoni and Paz Vega also share the spotlight with the comedic actor taking their separate roles and giving a deep story to this film. Overall the directing abilities of James L Brooks are put to the test in the film, as we see in his previous works of the Simpsons and the Simpsons movie.Under the direction of Mr. Brooks, the film continues with lives of Adam Sandler's children. His son and daughter both become well acquainted with their new Mexican maid and allow her to become part of the family; however, she is treated very bizarrely by Sandler's wife. Her actions cause the entire Mexican family to go into chaos because of how corrupted her own life even is. This part in the movie is hard to grasp and comes up almost consistently. The various clashes of social lives and ethical standards really collide in this film and are well developed with a basic understanding. This movie is certainly for the educated one.This movie, unlike Adam's other films, is directed for adult viewers and would end up being confusing and/or boring for the youth. The film does not highlight the directing work of James Brooks and is often regarded as one of his lesser known works. Spanglish is a good film and certainly tries to spread a message of the possible equality and connections we make with others in different ethical and social standing to ourselves. This movie definitely has its flaws but to the educated scholar or reader of similar topics, this movie would catch an eye.