Spanglish

LINKS
—Overview
—Trailers, Photos
—About this Film
—Spiritual Connections
—Review by Elisabeth Leitch

A full ten minutes into the picture, and suddenly, there he was: Adam Sandler. Already, I had become so caught up in the other characters that I forgot he was even in the film. More minutes passed. Still, no fart jokes, no one getting hit with a football in the groin, and only a minor temper tantrum from Sandler’s character—one that ended with him in tears, no less. Wait a second, I wondered. Isn’t this an Adam Sandler movie? Then I realized that no, this is a James L. Brooks movie. It just happens to feature Sandler in the lead role. No wonder I was enjoying it so much.

Say what you will about Adam Sandler’s career choices, there has always been something about him that is sincere, lovable, and undeniably appealing. Sure, he has a penchant for crude humor, rudimentary plot devices, and emotionally underdeveloped characters. But no matter how much Sandler plays at being the class clown, I have always sensed that he is the sort of guy who is generous with his friends, loyal to a fault, and nice to his mother. It just took someone with the talent of James L. Brooks to finally capture this side of the actor on film. Watch Sandler play a loving father and long-suffering husband in Spanglish, and you will quickly forget that he got his start singing dirty songs on Saturday Night Live. It is almost as if Sandler’s career begins anew with this film.

The ability to cast an actor against type like this and then extract such an endearing performance is just one aspect of Brooks’ genius. Clearly, Brooks is a multitalented individual; capable not only of conceiving and writing a great story but also of helming the entire project and helping his actors achieve some of their finest moments. Brooks has not made many films over the past two decades, but nearly every time he has, awards nomination lists are jammed with references to his work. Broadcast News, Terms of Endearment, and As Good As It Gets are probably his most widely acclaimed cinematic achievements. But this list does not even begin to cover his television work, which includes such genre-defining series as The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Taxi, and, most recently, The Simpsons.

One reason for Brooks’ success as a filmmaker, I think, is that even though his movies tend to have fairly mainstream appeal—partly due to their star power—they are anything but conventional. Rather than relying on gimmicky setups, Hollywood story conventions or lewd jokes, he chooses a more subtle approach, glorying in the ironic quagmires of our existence and the quirky characters who get stuck there. Brooks’ films are a lot like life: sometimes sad, sometimes funny, but always challenging. And things are rarely sewn up neatly at the end.

Spanglish is an excellent example of Brooks’ style in this regard. The previews lead you to believe it is a comedy. But even though it will make you laugh, the core of this film is deadly serious. On a story level, Spanglish is fairly straightforward: A beautiful Mexican woman (Flor) is hired as housekeeper for the Claskys (John and Deborah), a dysfunctional family living in L.A. Almost immediately, she is drawn into their domestic drama, until her life becomes so enmeshed with the Claskys that she either has to leave or risk losing her identity completely. In the wrong hands, such a story could easily become the stuff of TV melodrama: quickly digested and then just as quickly forgotten. But in Brooks’ hands, this plot becomes merely a platform from which to explore all sorts of important issues, such as race, parenting, infidelity, and success.

The characters through which Brooks explores these issues are every bit as interesting as the issues themselves: John, a celebrity chef who would rather have his restaurant rated at 3.75 stars instead of four so he will be among the best but still have something to shoot for; Deborah, who wants everyone in the family to get on the same page—hers; Evelyn, a former jazz singer who spends her days swilling wine, dispensing unsolicited nuggets of wisdom, and teaching her grandson the lyrics to her former hits; and the aforementioned Flor, who strives to retain her cultural values, her daughter, and her sense of self amidst an onslaught of maladjusted American hedonists. That’s just to name a few.

Of course, when you bite off this much material at once, there is always the risk of choking. Brooks avoids this hazard for the most part. However, I have to admit that the children in this film are more like plot points than fully realized characters. The exception is the Claskys’ daughter Bernie, played with surprising maturity by newcomer Sarah Steele. But even she disappears for most of the second hour. Character motivation is also unclear and even inconsistent at times. For example, it is difficult to understand how John can be so passive and yet so ambitious at the same time. It also seems strange that even though Deborah laments the loss of her job (and, hence, her identity) at the start of the film, not once do we see her looking for a new job afterwards.

Some viewers may also be less than satisfied with the way things are left hanging at the end of this story. But in my mind, giving this film a Hollywood ending would have put it on a one-way trip to the remainder bin alongside Maid in Manhattan. As it stands, Spanglish is much more likely to be remembered alongside such critically acclaimed works as last year’s Lost in Translation. With both films, the payoff isn’t a visceral thrill, aching smile muscles or a storybook conclusion. It’s all about the thrill of discovery—discovering someone else, discovering yourself, and, ultimately, discovering what is most important in life. Probably the best assessment comes from Sandler himself, who, in a recent interview with David Letterman, said, “It’s a great film, I can’t believe I’m in it.�

Neither can I.

LINKS
—Overview
—Trailers, Photos
—About this Film
—Spiritual Connections
—Review by Elisabeth Leitch