Spanglish
review by Mary Lasse | posted 12/17/2004
 1 of 4
From writer/director James L. Brooks (Terms of Endearment, As Good As It Gets) comes an "affairs of the heart" film. Most of us have lived through or at least witnessed the themes: looking outside our families for fulfillment; feeling inadequate as spouses, parents, and friends; finally discovering that we know and love someone we should have paid attention to all along. While the content isn't always pretty, the lessons are important. And, Brooks, thankfully, isn't afraid to face these themes, ugliness and all.
On a Brooks' side note, Spanglish would actually fall into the "dramedy" category in which he works so well, because of the way it mixes humor with some intense life situations. In As Good As It Gets, Jack Nicholson's obsessive-compulsive character had some funny quirks, but those quirks masked a fear of being alone. Brooks enjoys working with characters that seem to have everything: money, possessions, and careers, but his characters are nearly always in an interpersonal rut of some kind.
Tea Leoni and Adam Sandler play a married couple with some 'issues'
So it is with Spanglish.
In his best role to date (even better than his Punch-Drunk Love turn), Adam Sandler plays John Clasky, a renowned chef in the Los Angeles area. His marriage is at a crossroads, his career is on the rise, and his kids—especially his daughter, Bernie (Sarah Steele)—are the only people keeping him grounded. Now, I'll be honest: I tend to write off Saturday Night Live alumni in dramatic roles. But Sandler is forcing me to change my tune—he brings emotional honesty to this performance. His eyes are always watery, as though he's constantly on the brink of tears. When his character is on screen, you listen. When he says, "Great God in heaven, save me," you aren't looking at the Adam Sandler of SNL's "Canteen Boy" fame. You're looking at a character in a desperate situation—and you actually care for him, because he has so much love to give, but no one listens to him, least of all his own wife.
John (Sandler) meets Flor (Paz Vega) while his wife (Leoni) looks on
Yes, his wife. Deborah Clasky (played superbly by Tea Leoni, Flirting with Disaster) is a self-centered ("What am I gonna do about me?") ex-business woman who now faces the daily rigors of full-time motherhood ("Gulp!") after a corporate downsizing. Leoni is so good at being so bad that you almost don't want to like her character. But, she's not trying to be annoying. That's the (ahem) annoying part. Rather, she is barely aware that anyone in her own family takes offense at her actions. Consider her act of buying Bernie bags full of clothing ("I couldn't help myself!") … that are intentionally a size too small. Deb's just trying to give Bernie some motivation for losing weight, but Bernie's heartbroken—and Deb doesn't seem to care. Or, is it that she's so self-involved that she doesn't seem to notice?
There's a bit of a communication problem between Flor (Paz Vega) and Deborah (Tea Leoni)
Deb's neurotic behavior is enough to make anyone crazy—except Flor (Paz Vega of Talk to Her), the Claskys' Hispanic housekeeper. At first, the language barrier—Flor doesn't speak English—shields her from Deb's narcissistic behavior. But language barrier aside, Flor's simply too strong a person to be affected by such nonsense. Flor is compassionate, and fiery. As the course of events unfolds, Flor's personality and parenting beliefs conflict with Deb's, resulting in a personal and cultural small-scale war.
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