Spanglish (2004)

hyped garbage

A Disappointing Continuation

Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

The main theme of the film is 'showing that you love'. The comedy is a little oversimplified and uneven, though but for a clunky period following the prelude it's a film that could easily have merited a higher recommendation. The performances are all good. Spanish beauty Paz Vega is charming, and Adam Sandler gives a very thoughtful portrayal. Altogether they produce a moving story about family problems and self-identity.

As she runs, her black curls flowing in a stream of wild, uncontrolled tangles, she gasps for breath with every jolting step. Behind Flor, the blonde vixen casually jogs, her hair a tamed ponytail, not a strand of hair out of place or a movement of her body out of the ordinary for a jogger. As Flor struggles to maintain the lead in her race with the blonde and unaccepting Deborah Clasky, Deb shouts from behind that Flor's form is all wrong and she will never win a race by not adhering to the proper running techniques Deb learned at her American college. Flor is seen pushing herself with every step, her face strained with exhaustion, gasping for breath to keep herself in the race. As she fights to maintain her Mexican identity as an equal to Deb's Americanism, her sense of struggle is truly felt. When Deb outruns Flor, Flor is left jogging alone, still attempting to keep up. Will Flor be able to maintain her identity and provide a cultural life for her daughter, Christina, in a new and overwhelming country?The film Spanglish was directed by James L. Brooks and produced by Gracie Films Production Company. Released on December 17, 2004, it starred Adam Sandler as John Clasky, Tèa Leoni as Deborah Clasky, Paz Vega as Flor Moreno, and Shelbie Bruce as Christina Moreno. Adam Sandler's association with playing a goofy role adds a light- hearted comedic twist to the dramatic narration portrayed throughout the film. The film is told from Christina's point of view and conveys the struggles her mother feels after moving to a new and alien country. Flor attempts to raise her daughter in Mexico but eventually she realizes she needs to provide a better life for her daughter and immigrates to the United States searching for a city with the largest percentage of Spanish-speaking population so that they may feel welcomed into society. Eventually they settle on living in Los Angeles, California, which consisted of a 48% Spanish population. After living and working for 6 years in a predominantly Hispanic neighborhood, Flor decides she needs to immerse herself in the broader American culture in order to provide a better life for her daughter, and she begins working as a housekeeper for the Clasky family. Spanglish is about the struggle to become accepted into American society while still maintaining your cultural identity. Flor Moreno begins her new job without speaking a word of English. She often asks her daughter, Christina, to teach her English phrases and translate during family conversations. The entire family tries to communicate the little Spanish they know to display to Flor that as she struggles to learn a new language, they also struggle to learn Spanish. John Clasky is often seen attempting to communicate and understand Flor. All except Deb make the attempt. Flor begins to realize that Christina is embarrassed at having to translate for her mother all the time. Even after learning English there is still somewhat of a language barrier, which is where the term "Spanglish" comes from. She often mixes Spanish phrases along with her English in order to create an understanding of the words for herself. She also realizes that Christina begins to become ashamed of her Mexican culture. The movie becomes based on Flor's attempt to not only assimilate into American culture but also to help her daughter form and maintain a Mexican-American identity. During the movie, it becomes clear that Deb dislikes and disrespects Flor. She insults Flor's neighborhood by stating that she assumed that Flor and her daughter would move in to the Clasky house as her house is obviously better than "El Barrio." Deb also manipulates Christina into lying to Flor and throwing a party at the Clasky residence. After finally confirming through Deb's actions that she does not respect Flor and endeavors to cleanse Christina of her Spanish identity, Flor quits her job. Throughout all of her struggles she strains to help her daughter maintain her Mexican identity. Spoiler alert, by the end of the movie, Christina comes to the understanding that everything that angered her about her mother as a teenager has led her to identify as a Mexican-American in her adult life. The final words heard in the movie are a response to a college interview Christina attended. She states, "Your acceptance, while it would thrill me, will not define me. My identity rests firmly and happily on one fact: I am my mother's daughter." Finally, it is shown that although Christina wanted to become accepted into American society, she ultimately was not willing to risk her identity in order to do so. This movie displays the importance, as well as, the outcome of an immigrant raising their child to maintain a cultural identity. Individuals who identified with both their native cultures and American culture, such as Gloria Anzaldúa in "How to Tame A Wild Tongue" struggled to maintain their cultural identity and were hurt by Americans speaking badly about their culture. I would highly recommend this film, not only to immigrants, but also to the general society in order to understand acculturation in modern times. I loved this movie because as the first generation in my family born in America I realize how important it became my parents raised me to value my cultural identity. I realized how proud I am to identify as an Albanian-American whenever anyone comments on my faint accent and asks where I am from. My family has raised me to identify as an Albanian-American. Maintaining a balance between both has truly given me the feeling I was granted the best of both worlds. As immigration continues throughout the world, movies like Spanglish are significant in displaying the struggles faced in assimilating to new cultures. I would recommend this movie because I believe it is important to understand the hardships immigrants face in integrating in a new country. Spanglish provides both the voice and an understanding of immigrants in American society.

I really was surprised at the beginning of this film because it seemed so much different than the typical Sandler film. Sandler plays John, a Californian chef for a popular restaurant who is pretty much a normal chilled out guy married with 2 kids. Flor Moreno (Paz Vega), a poor single Mexican mother gets a housekeeping job at John's house. It was frustrating at times because Flor did not know any English so there were communication breakdowns. Flor's daughter, Cristina (Shelbie Bruce) lives at the house and acts as a translator for her mother. John's wife Deborah was tremendously acted in this film. She was crazy. It was a very annoying human but terrific acting by Tea Leoni. Deborah's alcoholic mother also lives at the estate but she doesn't really add much to the film. The movie was going along great and then it seemed to just derail with John and Deborah cheating on each other and Flor falling in love with John, John falling for Flor. Flor decides she doesn't want to get involved with John because it would ruin the marriage and so Flor and Cristina leave and go home. Cristina is forced to leave her private school that she had entered and she is crushed by it. 7.5/10 I enjoyed it overall but i was hoping it would go in a different direction. The acting was decent and the plot was entertaining until the final third of the movie. Not a typical Sandler film as he wasn't really funny nor did the beginning/ending evolve around his character.

I really enjoyed this, I've seen it a couple of times now and its funny, touching, thoughtful and filled with strong performances from everyone.The movie is essentially about family and mostly about the woman involved. Adam Sandler's character as the dad is just treading water throughout the deranged females in his life. I liked Sandler in this semi-serious role -which I haven't been able to say about him too much lately. His character shows depth and I loved the interactions with his daughter.Téa Leoni is also excellent, really putting the crazy in dysfunctional and super fun to watch. Her character is a disparaging mess and does some terribly selfish things but you can't seem to hate her for it. Cloris Leachman provides a lot of laughs in a background sort of role as her Leoni's alcoholic-ish mother.The story pretty much revolves around Paz Vega, who is (beautiful)& scene stealing as a Mexican maid who tries to make a better life for herself and her daughter by taking a job with an affluent L.A couple.The movie isn't perfect and does waffle a bit, especially towards the end when love is introduced to the storyline. 5/18/15