Spare Parts

Strange how these sort of "feel good" films -- based on actual events -- used to be more commonplace... and now have somehow become an endangered species..? SPARE PARTS is a serious film. By that I mean they used name stars and gave the film a full 2 hour running length. (Lately you can tell more about a film by the length than any other statistic -- the ones that clock in at exactly 1:25 are usually done on the cheap, intended to be sold to TV right away).

It might not win any Oscars but it is solid entertainment with no hiccoughs or offbeat moments.

For this reviewer, the oddest thing was identifying the "glue." In every story there is a character that the audience comes to identify with, and the actions of this key character often set the tone for how the audience will respond to the whole story.

What was interesting here is that the "glue" was Marisa Tomei, who is both the conscience and the heart of the film -- yet she does not have as much camera time as some of the other characters. She does an outstanding job of grounding the story, from beginning to end.

Highly recommended.

Okay, I admit it. I'm a robotics nerd. I managed a high school robotics team for three years and watched on the side-lines while my son participated on another team for four years. So, of course I went to see the new movie "Spare Parts" about the Carl Hayden High School Robotics Team that participated in a college-level underwater robotics competition and beat M.I.T. I've met Coach Freddie, and I've attended robotics competitions and meetings at Carl Hayden High School. There was no way I was going to miss this movie.

Having said all that, here are the reasons ALL OF YOU should see this movie. If you live in Arizona, you should see this inspirational movie about something that happened in your own state. (Yes, sometimes good things do happen in Arizona.) If you are an educator, a parent, or anyone who works with kids, you should see this movie to remember what can happen when we inspire kids and give them a chance to show us what they can do. If you're a nerd or a techie - just go see it! It's a show with a lot of heart, the right amount of humor, and some good acting and writing, too.

I saw this movie back in a 8th grade math class. I admit I only watched it because it had George Lopez but it was surprising entertaining. But this movie did have it's moments and was nice nice to know that it was based on an actual time. Although it does get a little slow in the 2nd quarter but it had some nice cheesy-ish humor.

What, you thought this movie was about a group of high school kids who put together a robot and competed against some of the best teams in the world? Well, it's really only partially about that.

In terms of acting, I thought everyone did great, although the kids came off as being some of the whitest Mexican kids I've ever seen. George Lopez fit the role well enough even though he really came off as more of a coach than a science teacher. Still, I'm glad to see him doing movies, as I never cared much for his TV show and I do like the guy, he has a good presence on the screen.

Filming and scene choreography and editing are all fairly well done. You won't get any of the scene jumping or hard to follow nonsense that you sometimes get from other movies. This one is put together nicely and the story flows well. It's inspiring.

Aside from the story, the movie spends a great deal of time commenting on the state of illegal immigration here in the U.S. To say that this doesn't belong in the review of the movie is wrong, since the movie is clearly about that. And how could it not be? With George Lopez and Marisa Tomei teaming up to make witty punches at conservative ideals for most of it. Demonizing conservatives in the movies has always been a favorite strategy of the left.

As I identify as conservative, and since the first punch has already been thrown, I'd like to take just a second to be clear about where most conservatives stand on immigration: not all of us believe that every illegal should be deported. We believe in a 2-step solution.

1. It is clear that Pandora's box has already been opened for the past 40 years. When you have children growing up in the U.S., in our schools, and being educated as U.S. citizens, then it's time to let those kids stay here and give them the citizenship that they should have. A selective and partial amnesty makes sense.

2. This solution must coincide with the effective sealing of the border, a task that no president or congress, Republican or Democrat, has been willing to do. That is the key element to solving this problem, and that is what most conservatives at the ground level feel needs to be done.

Some of the other reviews and comments have also indicated a few subtle skewings to the truth of the story. Apparently in actuality there were two teachers for the robotics club and neither of them were Latino. Their robot also finished third in the applied contest, which I find to be a strange change to the story as it would have been easy to simply tell it the way it was.

But all politics and subtle skewings aside, this was a very good movie. Inspiring and well made, and fun to watch. I recommend it.

Thank you for reading.

Fantastic family friendly movie about perseverance and heart. Based on a true story about immigrant high school kids that form a robotics club in an attempt to get a leg up on their next journey in life. They face many obstacles: family, money, no papers, bad attitudes; but they have heart, will, & determination in spades! Lovely movie worth a rental. Fun for the whole family.