InsidePulse Review – Spanglish

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Written and directed by James L. Brooks. Running time: 2:13. MPAA rating: PG-13 (some sexual content and brief language).

Starring:

John Clasky – Adam Sandler
Deborah Clasky – Tea Leoni
Flor – Paz Vega
Evelyn – Cloris Leachman
Bernice – Sarah Steele
Cristina – Shelbie Bruce

Spanglish is a good movie. Someday, it may even be called a film by the likes of Jon Beida (and others). It is a very complicated, very long running film, and at this point looks to have incredibly divided the mainstream critics – half of them love of, half of them don’t. It’s not hard to understand, once viewing this film, why people could be so divided. This provokes some of the most conflicted emotions in one when walking out of a film than most works in recent memory. There’s a lot of story to tell, but that is also where the main problems lie.

The film begins with the back story of the tale of Flor Moreno and her daughter Cristina. Abandoned by their husband/father, respectively, the two make for America the old fashioned way (illegally) so Cristina can have a better life. After working her tail off for six years in a Spanish neighborhood of Los Angeles, Flor realizes she needs to look for better work and winds up getting a job as maid/housekeeper for the Clasky family. John Clasky (Sandler) is a critically acclaimed chef, and his wife Deborah (Leoni) is an out of work and full-time mom. Rounding out the Clasky clan: Deborah’s mother Evelyn (Leachman), daughter Bernice (Steele) and son Georgie (Ian Hyland).

The film does not take long to delve deep into the plot. Narrated by Cristina, the story first focuses on Flor before shifting gears and focusing heavily on the dysfunctions of the Claskys. And there are a lot of dysfunctions in the family. Flor witnesses everything and slowly, despite her attempts otherwise, becomes fully engrossed with the family and their problems. About half way through the film she and her daughter live with the family, and that adds another dimension to the on-going situations, as Flor must now deal with the alarming issue of her daughter being engulfed in the life-style of the Claskys, or, the poor girl living it up in the rich house.

The acting in this film is truly inspired. While the plot may begin and indicate another cliche-ridden, ‘family finding itself romp’ (more on that in a bit), the actors quickly win the viewer over. Paz Vega, making her American film debut here, is absolutely stunning. Not just to look at (she is beautiful, no question) but with her entire demeanor. Whether she is angry and ranting and raving in Spanish (for much of the film she speaks no English), or fighting back tears, or trying to comprehend the crazy house she lives in while going about her work, she pulls off an amazing performance. What makes it perfect are her facial expressions, which are so genuine they are disconcerting – she bares her heart and soul with her eyes alone, generating a captivating and whole-heartedly believble performance on screen.

Tea Leoni, somehow, manages to almost craft a semi-realistic character out of the totally unbelieveable, eccentric Deborah. One with such an ample amount of personalities residing in her brain, or simply that many mental problems, would probably not be found running up the suburban streets of L.A. every morning. But as a actor, she succeeds in getting the audience to downright despise her character and her actions, and that deserves some praise.

Cloris Leachman does a great job as the alcoholic, ex-jazz singer turned grandmother, and her character plays a vital role at the end, even sobering up to do so (No one noticed!). Sarah Steele and Shelbie Bruce are both great as the different yet the same young girls. But, in all honesty, it is Adam Sandler who truly shines and steals the show.

For a long while, Sandler has been typecast as the angry yet funny guy, playing more or less the same roles over and over. No more. After this film, critics should be quiet and let the man show them how damn good he really is (If he didn’t do that with Punch Drunk Love, anyway). Yes, it is true that some of Sandler’s classic comedy is more than noticeable at times, particularly in one scene where John comes home pretty drunk. But to call his work anything less than great is an understatement and a shame. John is a conflicted man, who is soft spoken, calm and sweet. He also has an angry side, but unfortunately for him he is unable to show it much, if it all – hence the conflict. Sandler pulls this off in spades where other actors would have failed. His acting is top-notch, and his chemistry with everyone on screen, particularly Vega, is perfect. He is not the star, but helps make the show great.

The show should be perfect. It is not. While the actors are great, some of their characters, specifically Deborah as mentioned above, are a little hard to swallow. This is but a minor mis-step, however. The large problem comes with the overall plot itself. As mentioned above, Cristina is the main narrator in the beginning, some parts of the middle, and at the end. The movie opens with her and her mother, and spends the first 20-25 minutes focused on Flor and her home life, plus her reaction to the Claskys. When one starts to get comfortable with the assumed that the film will focus on Flor and Cristina, the movie does the exact opposite, and they become support characters to the dysfunctional Clasky family. This totally waters down the narration by Cristina, and as viewers question the point, they get settled into watching the Claskys and Flor in the background trying to help them.

That’s already roughly three minor plots going on at once, if you include all of the characters and their interactions with each other. Then, Flor and her daughter move in with the Claskys, and that introduces another entire sub-plot, not to mention a couple more that develop as the film goes on, reaches it’s climax, and ultimately winds down to it’s unsatisfying ending. If James L. Brooks (As Good As It Gets) had narrowed his focus, he would have had a brilliant, if not perfect film. Unfortunately, he crams too much into this one (Which is saying a lot, given it’s long running time) and ultimately leaves the viewer disappointed.