CORPORATE LINE: With SPANGLISH, writer/director/producer James L. Brooks (AS GOOD AS IT GETS) unfurls yet another accomplished, tender, romantic comedy. Celebrated chef John Clasky (Adam Sandler) is the patriarch of the Clasky household, but the mood swings of his hypersensitive wife, Deborah (Tea Leoni), are what really runs the show. When the Claskys hire the beautiful Flor (Paz Vega) to be their maid, their already rocky relationship faces some even bigger boulders. Spanish-speaking Flor is a sincere, loving single mother whose daughter, Christina (Shelbie Bruce), receives lavish displays of affection from Deborah. Meanwhile, Deborah neglects her own son and daughter in much the same way that her self-absorbed, alcoholic mother, Evelyn (Cloris Leachman), neglected her. Eventually Deborah crosses a line when she betrays her husband with the real estate broker who is helping her search for a beach house. Faced with this challenge, John and Flor, who share a clear attraction to one another, get the chance to explore their feelings.
Brooks populates his film with wholly believable characters. On first glance they may seem like broad caricatures (especially in the case of the roles played by Leoni and Leachman), but the characters subvert viewers’ expectations by turning into full-fledged, three-dimensional humans by the end of the film. As in PUNCH-DRUNK LOVE, Sandler delivers a performance that shows his wide range of talent.
THE MOVIE: Tea Leoni hasn’t made a great transition to film and this is another example of either a poor choice of selecting characters or a very bad job of acting. Leoni is so bad at being bad that it’s not enjoyable. Usually the bad guy is so much fun to hate yet Leoni is so grating that nothing can be done to make us believe we’re happy with our discontent.
The attempt at inspiring emotion and creating sympathy with any of the characters never really works; Sandler isn’t a comfortable fit and Leoni we already spoke on. Cloris Leachman on the other hand is a gem so why has she gone missing for so long?
DVD FEATURES: There is a nice featurette by HBO that is a sort of making-of. A feature on casting has the always enjoyable James L. Brooks who discusses casting and why they choose the actors/actresses.
Brooks also shines on his commentary during the movie. Although he seems to find every funny it makes for an enjoyable commentary. Because Brooks knows everything there is to know about the direction and the creation of the characters it’s as if a father is telling us about his children—and you know parents always think their children are the best.
There is a deleted scenes featurette featuring a commentary again by Brooks and his editors. Another featurette with Chef Thomas Keller shows us how to make a BLT sandwich. I haven’t tried it but it sure looked good.
FRANKLY: Spanglish is forgettable. James L. Brooks has a reputation for creating films and characters that are timeless and it is to bad he never finds the same groove in Spanglish.
+ Charlie Craine
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.