Spanglish | ||||
James L. Brooks Adam Sandler, Téa Leoni, Paz Vega, Cloris Leachman, Shelbie Bruce, Sarah Steele, Ian Hyland, Aimee Garcia, Victoria Luna 2004 |
Seven years elapsed between the release of James L. Brooks' award-winning 1997 dramedy "As Good As It Gets," and the filmmaker's next directorial effort, "Spanglish." With the success of "As Good As It Gets" and all of the time that Brooks took to get his follow-up movie to market, the bar was set high. "Spanglish," a socio-romantic comedy with a subdued, ingratiating Adam Sandler as its unlikely leading man, isn't obvious Oscar-bait, and, in the end, it veers toward a bleeding-heart liberal fantasy of cross-cultural understanding. But comedian Sandler, eschewing his usual manic persona, delivers a sympathetic, satisfying performance as John Clasky, a top Los Angeles chef coping with his emotionally unstable wife Deborah. The family is in tumult as Deborah, played with neurotic frenzy by Téa Leoni, makes John and their two kids miserable. Into their lives comes Flor, a lovely, young Mexican housekeeper who can't speak a word of English, yet has wisdom and heart beyond her years. Flor, given warmth and vitality by the exquisite Spanish actress Paz Vega ("The Other Side of the Bed," "Sex & Lucia"), was abandoned by her husband in Mexico and sought a better life for herself and her daughter Cristina in L.A. Hired by Deborah, Flor relies on bright, bilingual Cristina to communicate with her new bosses, the Clasky kids and Deborah's alcoholic mother (Cloris Leachman). Lessons, laughs and tears are in store. | |||
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