Here we are, firmly ensconced in January, and now that the
holidays are over you want to relax with a movie. You’ve already nibbled on
some Oscar bait (The Aviator, Closer) and you’re patiently awaiting
the next course (Million Dollar Baby,
House of Flying Daggers). So you look
in the paper… hey, how about Spanglish?
The cast looks promising (the underrated Adam Sandler, the underused Tea Leoni,
Academy Award winner Cloris Leachman), and writer-director James L. Brooks has
an impressive track record of his own. Hell, he executive-produces The Simpsons! You could do worse, right?
Yeah, I suppose you could. But not much.
Spain’s Paz Vega (Sex
y Lucia) stars as Flor, a Mexican single mother who accepts a domestic
position in the home of up-and-coming Los Angeles chef John Clasky (Adam
Sandler) and his high-strung wife Deborah (Tea Leoni). Also under the Claskys’
roof are a sweet, smart, and slightly overweight daughter, a personality-free
son, and the requisite flawed yet wise old person, Deborah’s mom Evelyn (Cloris
Leachman).
After a slightly rocky start in the Clasky household,
Deborah browbeats the Spanish-speaking Flor and her Americanized daughter
Cristina into spending the summer with the Clasky family at a Malibu beach
house, where everyone learns stuff.
Spanglish’s script is manipulative (mental abuse of
children) and pedestrian (dumb Anglos enlightened by a minority), with the
exception of a clever scene between Flor and John, with Cristina translating,
in which John forces Flor to take a look in the proverbial mirror. And despite
being too long by about 30 minutes, the film enjoys almost zero resolution.
But if you have your heart set on seeing Spanglish, Cloris Leachman’s performance
will ease the sting of you parting ways with your eight bucks. She accepted the
role after Anne Bancroft fell ill, though the shortsighted producers reportedly
worried that the almost-octogenarian might be too advanced in years to play
Leoni’s mother. Her Evelyn is alternately daffy, caring, and shrewd, and she
gets to deliver the film’s best line regarding her daughter’s self-esteem.
Anyone who hears it will look forward to appropriating one day.
Tea Leoni is a gifted actress, but you wouldn’t know it from
her shrill, one-note portrayal of the selfish Deborah. Presumably her
eleventh-hour turnaround was meant to seem repentant, but Deborah’s actions
beforehand do nothing to make it appear anything less than calculated.
It wasn’t difficult for Adam Sandler to elicit sympathy in
the role of a goodhearted man who realizes he married a banshee, but he
exhibits more of the promise he showed in Punch-Drunk
Love without falling back on his usual mugging. The sooner we accept him as
a dramatic actor, the easier it will be for all of us.
Spanglish (PG-13), starring Cloris Leachman, Tea Leoni, Adam
Sandler, and Paz Vega; written and directed by James L. Brooks; playing at
Canandaigua Theatres, Cinemark Tinseltown, Geneseo Theatres, Pittsford Plaza.
— Dayna Papaleo
This article appears in Jan 5-11, 2005.
