Cultural integration, yearning for acceptance, and the challenges of bringing up children are the central themes of James L. Brooks’ flawed but pleasant new dramedy, “Spanglish,” the story of a single mother from Mexico who becomes the housekeeper for a wealthy Southern California clan. Brooks is one of the best in the business at harvesting fresh perspectives on the human condition, and this time out he employs language barriers, income gaps and disparate cultural mores to lay bare the souls of his colorful cast of characters. The film is rife with Brooks’ signature acerbic wit and he manages to engender empathy even, to minimal degree, for Tea Leoni’s grating Beverly Hills housewife, Deborah Clasky. But “Spanglish” suffers from several glaring digressions from realism, and the presence of the unlikable Deborah is ultimately a big, fat negative.
Flor (Paz Vega) is a drop-dead gorgeous domestic who Deborah inexplicably hires on the spot, even though it’s hard to imagine anyone so neurotic and insecure paying temptation to hang around the house. Flor can’t speak a lick of English, but that doesn’t stop her from instantly connecting with the Claskys — particularly patriarch John (Adam Sandler), the only top chef in LA without at least a passing knowledge of Spanish. Like Flor, John’s good people — too good, in fact, for Deborah, whose early mid-life crisis (and the affair that comes with it) threatens to destroy what was presumably once a solid household. When circumstances conspire to force the very private Flor to bring her 12-year-old daughter Christine (Shelbie Bruce) into the Clasky mix, the two families’ destinies collide and are forever changed.
Brooks is still a TV guy at heart and “Spanglish” is typically episodic. That’s not a bad thing overall, but there are a few stand-alone sequences that almost grind the film to a halt. Good thing Brooks has the venerable Cloris Leachman on hand to jumpstart things — she’s a hit as Deborah’s flighty, warm-hearted mom. Sandler, too, is on the mark playing a character with just enough contradictions to keep our attention riveted. (Rated PG-13 for some sexual content and brief language. Running time: 131 minutes)
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on December 17, 2004. Read the original PDF.