Spanglish

Gregory Nava's "El Norte" was a memorable journey into the Latino experience in white wealthy country. That masterpiece had a heartbreaking scene between the Latino maid and a washing machine. "Spanglish" merely hints to a similar moment between the Latino maid and a coffee machine. The "merely hinting" is at the heart of this painful comedy of manners. This is the journey of an observer not of someone who actually lived it. As a consequence he treats his own with an iron hand and the others with a romantic, heroic, fairy taleish sort of slant. Putting aside the potential seriousness of the story, the film is a moving, entertainment fantasy in the land of opulence and guilt. The borders here are not geographic but personal, the aliens are the natives. They become illegal in their own existence and step all over their own lives without noticing, trying to care, trying to be the best they can possibly be but without points of reference or enough substance for their acts to have any kind of real meaning. Tea Leoni gives a performance of such fearlessness that sometimes you feel she may jump out of the screen. Cloris Leachman is great as an alcoholic wise woman who doesn't want to be judged. Paz Vega represents the ideal Latin heroine in a wealthy American's story. She is beautiful and powerful and utterly unlikely. Adam Sandler is Adam Sandler and seems to stand passively between the blonder than blond world of his wife and the exotic gorgeousness world of his maid. I would like to know what happened to Paz and her daughter after leaving behind the chances to be or become like everyone else in the white wealthy country of make believe, or is that too much to ask.

SPANGLISH - a term with negative connotation to numerous Spanish-Americans (or at least to the first generation or older immigrants).

As the title implies, the movie makes a very interesting and subtle social commentary about the Mexican American dynamics/contrast in society. Obviously as expected, the film illustrates a few stereotypes. For example, when Florrr's (played by Paz Vega) cousin, Cecilia hit the sliding glass door and her nose bled, the wife Deborah Clasky (played by Tia Leone) offered her money instead. It's sad but true in today's society.

But what make the film interesting are its subtleties. For instance the casting and the characters itself. The producers could have hired a blonde blue eyed male lead instead of Adam Sandler, but they did not. Why? Because Sandler's character (John Clasky) is an antithesis of the wife, Deborah Clasky. She's blonde blue eyed superficial, emotionally disturbed, patronizing, solipsistic, white housewife, who the writer ( Brooks )probably wants to portray as the epitome of everything that is bad about white people - or Americans for that matter (however exaggerated they portrayed her to be). You can empathize with the husband's character and Adam Sandler played it very well. It's interesting to note, the husbands character's last name is Clasky - possibly his ancestors were immigrants as well. And his character is portrayed as someone who "gets it", someone who understands Florrr - an immigrant mother who wants her daughter raised with her own values and integrity even though she is only a lowly servant to the Clasky's.

One of the interesting scenes in the film that I found very clever was the argument between Florrrr and John. It showed the two sides of the dynamic. While I was watching it I thought to myself, any other individual would immediately apologize and patronize the immigrant housemaid in the expense of goodwill. But I was surprised that Sandler's character actually called her a "hypocrite" instead, and she realized he has a point. Not to criticize her (it's probably what Deborah would have done) would be hypocritical as well. This is another social commentary that was written very well and cleverly portrayed in the film.

The acting is equally superb. You could just hate some of the characters specially the housewife and the daughter Cristina Moreno (played by Shelbie Bruce). You can just empathize with Adam Sandler's character and his daughter, Bernice. The only people amongst the Claskys that is very adult. The grandmother's character on the other hand (played by Cloris Leachman ) whose always drinking provides a respite to the insanity in the story and ironically always the unobtrusive and yet emphatic character despite how she lived her life. In the end she was the voice of reason for the wife.

Equally, the dialogue is worth mentioning. Interestingly, there are no subtitles on all the Spanish spoken dialogue but the audience can kind of get the gist of what's being said or argued. It can be distracting to some audiences but thankfully, Florrr's character learned to speak English in the second half of the film. Also, the Spanish without subtitles added a few good scenes in the film and added a positive credence to the title SPANGLISH. It illustrates how to write the quintessential part of the screenplay without making it too cliché.

Overall, I liked this film. If you can look at it in the same light as I saw the film, you would enjoy it too and find it cleverly written and directed. Otherwise, it could be a little slow and the dialogue can be a little bit distracting. It doesn't help some of it is in Spanish and Adam sandler's character cannot express himself very well verbally.

I saw Spanglish Saturday night (12/11/04). It was a preview and I haven't seen any critical reviews yet. I liked it enough to give it a 8 out of 10. It's a comedy with enough serious moments to give a person time to pause and think. Young girl emigrates with her mom from Mexico and settles in California. Mom (being in America illegally) settles as a housekeeper for Sandler and Leoni. She's baffled by the monied existence of the upper classes and how it effects her daughter. I thought that Paz Vega is excellent as the mom. Adam Sandler holds back and plays a compassionate father. Cloris Leachman is great and should be nominated for a Best Supporting Actress. The revelation to me is Tea Leoni. I thought that she was great as the waspish/blond mom/wife who feels that she's not getting enough respect at home.

Spanglish navigates between drama and comedy with a strong cast and moments that capture the complexity of human relationships. However, its narrative lacks a clear storyline, unfolding more like a mosaic of interactions and conflicts among its characters.

The story is narrated by Cristina, a 17-year-old girl, as a tender recollection of her mother, Flor. Through her Princeton admission essay, the film explores her family's immigration journey, adding layers of emotional manipulation to the narrative. Flor, who learns English to better connect with the family she works for, brings invaluable common sense to a household filled with chaos.

Deborah (Téa Leoni), meanwhile, is a neurotic woman going through an identity crisis after losing her job as a commercial designer. While her behavior often crosses the line-like when she buys her daughter Bernice smaller-sized clothes to "encourage" her to lose weight-Leoni manages to make Deborah humanly endearing, even when she constantly oversteps boundaries. Her lack of consideration gives Flor an opportunity to shine with her intelligence, while Bernice and John (Adam Sandler) eloquently express their indignation, allowing the audience to draw its own conclusions.

Adam Sandler delivers a surprisingly authentic performance as John, a chef hailed as the best in America by The New York Times. While one might expect his character to be a perfectionist tyrant with anger issues, John turns out to be a sweet and genuine man-reminiscent of the lovable characters Sandler is known for. His moments with his daughter Bernice, portrayed with freshness by Sarah Steele in her film debut, are heartfelt and stand out as some of the most memorable in the movie.

Though Flor is endearing as a mother and central figure in the story, Paz Vega's character occasionally feels unreal in her reactions. Some of her decisions seem overly idealized, which detracts slightly from the credibility of her role in such an intimate and human context.

Despite its gaps in plausibility, Spanglish remains compelling, mainly because of the emotional connection it fosters between its characters and the audience. While it's not always a cohesive story, its ability to depict the ups and downs of family life and cultural tensions makes it a worthwhile journey.

When I heard the title and learned that Adam Sandler was in this movie, I had very low expectations. Boy, was I surprised. This is a wonderful film, not at all the low-level fluff film I expected. All the female actresses, young and old, are absolutely terrific, and Adam Sandler does a respectable job in a semi-serious role. The writing is very clever, and the film will elicit laughter as well as tears. I found my self still thinking about the movie the next day, something that all too often doesn't happen with today's highly forgettable films. One caveat: this is really a movie for teens and up, not a kids' movie. Aside from a bad word or two and a (hilarious) sex scene, the underlying themes are quite adult. Enjoy!