Picture This! Reviews Spanglish

I like movies that James L. Brooks directs. I haven’t seen all of Adam Sandler’s movies but I think he’s talented and I was happy to see this concentrated leap beyond the audience of adolescent boys. I even think Téa Leoni is a star waiting to happen. So why didn’t I like Spanglish?

I think it’s because the movie is so, so disconnected. Is it about a young Mexican mother struggling to adapt to the American way of life to improve her daughter’s future? Is it about a manic, self-involved Beverly Hills cliché wife more interested in the superficial “things” instead of the well-being of her husband and children? Is it about a talented chef who loves his work and is charming to the help and the “good guy” to his kids, but doesn’t want to be on top in business and can’t muster the balls to be on top in the bedroom?

Maybe it’s about the angst of a teenage daughter going through the ugly duckling stage of teenhood unable to be appreciated for her inner beauty? Or an alcoholic grandmother? Or an underprivileged girl who wants to better herself through education?

Maybe Spanglish tried to be too many things and never quite did any of them well. Maybe it’s the movie’s title.

Whatever. The sum of all the parts don’t add up to a wonderful total. Yet, some of the parts are wonderful.

Cloris Leachman demonstrates her uncanny and unerring comedic timing with every opportunity. Shelbie Bruce, as Cristina the Mexican teen, has a dead on scene translating from Spanish to English and back again for her mother, Paz Vega, and Sandler.

Vega maintains a spunky demeanor in spite of her housekeeper status and more than holds her own visually. The camera loves her face and the rest of her ain’t bad either.

Spanglish has a few laughs and maybe a few tears, but expectations run high when you’ve directed such classics as Broadcast News, Terms of Endearment, and As Good As It Gets. I can’t wait to see Brooks’ next picture. I usually like what he directs.

Rebecca Redshaw is the Arts& Entertainment Critic for www.NotesFromHollywood.com. She can be reached at r2redshaw@hotmail.com.