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SPANGLISH
Review by Michael Jacobson
Stars:
Adam Sandler, Tea Leoni, Paz Vega, Cloris Leachman, Shelbie Bruce, Sarah
Steele
Director: James L. Brooks
Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85:1
Studio: Columbia Tri Star
Features: See Review
Length: 129 Minutes
Release Date: April 5, 2005
"I'm
gonna have to learn 'you must learn English' in Spanish."
Some
films offer a roller coaster ride of emotions; Spanglish is more of a
gentle merry-go-round through them. It
doesn't jerk you violently one way or another, but allows the humor, warmth,
heartache and romance to gently wash over you like a spring breeze.
It's the kind of movie you want to reach out to and pull close to your
heart.
Writer/director
James L. Brooks has an uncanny knack for finding the comedy in tragedy and the
tragedy in comedy, and I think maybe the secret is that he doesn't go too far in
either direction. His best films
don't have you guffawing like a donkey from start to finish, nor going through a
box of tissues. Like his master
chef character, he carefully stirs in small amounts of each until the seasoning
is just right.
Spanglish
is
essentially a look at an American family through an outsider's point of view.
She is Flor (Vega), a Mexican single mother who, with her daughter
Christina (Bruce), make their way into the United States for better
opportunities. Flor wishes for her
and her daughter to remain ostensively Latin, living and working in the barrio
in Los Angeles, but eventually takes up a job working for the Claskys as a
housekeeper.
She
speaks no English and the Claskys no Spanish, but as much for her as for those
of us in the audience who understand the language, they are a strikingly offbeat
family. The mother Deborah (Leoni)
is a mass of tension and crises that frequently break through her mask of
control. The father John (Sandler)
is a calm kindhearted man dealing with the pressures of his neurotic wife and
being named best chef in America at the same time. Deborah's mother Evelyn (Leachman) was a one time jazz
sensation turned professional alcoholic.
The
language barrier, needless to say, is only the beginning.
But for Flor, the situation grows more complicated when the family
decides to rent a beach house for the summer and invite her and her young
daughter to live with them for three months.
Christina can't help but be influenced by the highly Americanized Claskys,
which is something she's tried to avoid.
That
is really only the beginning of the story, which is large and roomy enough for
many inviting twists and turns. The
film is constantly surprising, from the comedy (Leoni and Sandler have the
funniest sex scene in recent memory) to the tender expressions of loneliness
between Sandler and Vega. I have to
say I've never seen Adam Sandler offer a more touching and fully realized
performance as he does here, and that includes his critically acclaimed turn in Punch
Drunk Love.
Paz
Vega, who also starred in Sex and Lucia and had an unforgettable small
role in Talk To Her, is a revelation in this movie.
Not only is she one of the most beautiful women alive, she brings an
energy and vitality to the role of Flor that makes you believe that, habla or no
habla, she has the ability to break through and touch hearts and win minds.
She certainly does that with the audience.
I'd
be remiss if I closed this review without praising Tea Leoni...her work as
Deborah really has to be seen to be believed.
She is constantly like a spring about to burst out of coil; her whole
body is alive with tics of nervous tension; her voice a humorous expression of a
woman trying to maintain control but not always succeeding.
It's over the top, to be sure, but in an entirely good way...none of her
manic energy goes to waste here.
There
are so many beautiful and wondrous moments I want to talk about within this
movie, but I have to accept that by doing so, I would only offer clumsy
recreations of scenes that achieve a near poetic perfection and emotional
truthfulness. So instead of going
for one of those, I'll share my favorite comic moment instead...it's when a
flustered Flora uses Christina to translate an impassioned speech to John, where
her daughter follows her around speaking the words and waving her arms and hands
in the same broad gestures as her mother. It's a beautifully funny bit of comic timing between adult
actor and child actor that had me in hysterics.
Spanglish
is, simply
put, an effervescent slice of life that celebrates the things that make us all
different, but celebrates even more what makes us the same.
Video
****
This
is a bright, sunny film that translates well to DVD courtesy of Columbia Tri
Star's terrific anamorphic transfer. Images
throughout are bright, colorful and well detailed, with no visible grain,
compression or artifacts to spoil the viewing experience.
Wonderfully done.
Audio
***
Though
mostly a dialogue oriented film, the 5.1 sound is lively and dynamic, thanks to
some high energy scenes between the actors balanced against some quiet and low
key moments. Rear channels aren't
used much, but the front stage sounded well balanced and clean throughout.
Features
****
The
extras start with a commentary track featuring Brooks and his editors...it's an
informative and often humorous listen. There
is an HBO making-of special, 12 deleted scenes with optional commentary, casting
session videos with optional commentary, DVD ROM extras, a gallery of trailers,
and a bit on how to make the world's greatest sandwich featuring Thomas Keller.
Summary:
