Spanglish (film)

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Spanglish

A comedy with a language all its own.
Directed by James L. Brooks
Produced by Julie Ansell
James L. Brooks
Richard Sakai
Written by James L. Brooks
Starring Adam Sandler
Téa Leoni
Paz Vega
Cloris Leachman
Thomas Haden Church
Music by Hans Zimmer
Cinematography John Seale
Editing by Richard Marks
Distributed by Columbia Pictures
Release date(s) December 17, 2004
Running time 131 min.
Language English
Spanish
Budget $80,000,000
IMDb profile

Spanglish is a 2004 American film written and directed by James L. Brooks, and starring Adam Sandler, Téa Leoni, Paz Vega, and Cloris Leachman. Hans Zimmer was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score. It was released in other countries over the first several months of 2005.

The casting of Paz Vega as a Mexican housekeeper has caused some criticism, as Vega is a native of Spain.[citation needed]

[edit] Plot summary

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

The movie opens showing a Princeton University admissions board reviewing freshman applications and reading the essays that accompany them. The question for the essay is, “Who has been the most influential person in your life?” The reviewers are met with unremarkable answers and uninteresting explanations, but one essay stands out: that of Cristina Moreno (Shelbie Bruce), who cites her mother Flor (Paz Vega) as the most influential person in her life. Cristina proceeds to explain, and the movie begins to unfold.

Flor Moreno is a divorcee mother from Mexico who has crossed the border into the United States with her young daughter Cristina, in search of a better life. With no home, the two travel the United States with little hope for the future. Over time, Cristina becomes fluent in the English language, but her mother refuses to break the language barrier, choosing instead to seclude herself in the Latin community where she and her daughter live.

Eventually, however, it becomes clear that Flor cannot simply lock herself and Cristina in their own world forever, and she is forced to take a job. Flor settles in with working as a housekeeper for the Clasky family, composed of a successful chef named John (Sandler), his insecure wife Deborah (Leoni), their two children Bernice (Sarah Steele) and Georgie (Ian Hyland), and Deborah's mother, retired singer Evelyn (Leachman). Though the Claskys and Flor cannot understand one another, Flor tries to help out around the house as best as she can, even helping Bernice and Georgie during Deborah’s outbursts.

Flor learns that as rich as the Claskys are, they have issues that are equal to, if not worse than, those of herself. She learns that John is an emotional man (a far cry from the tough, macho Latino men she is accustomed to being around), and that like herself, Deborah is unable to understand what is best for her family and what makes them happy. To make matters worse, Deborah and John’s marriage is on the rocks. Though seemingly difficult, it is just the proverbial "calm before the storm".

Flor is proud of her Mexican roots, and does not wish to forget her heritage or the values instilled in her. Wishing for her daughter to be as proud of her race as she is, Flor and Cristina’s relationship is put to the test when she must live with the Claskys for the summer, and is forced to bring her daughter along. The Claskys immediately take to Cristina and treat her like their own. Cristina marvels at all that the Claskys have, while Flor watches, forcing herself to be happy for her daughter.

The real problems begin to surface when Deborah takes Cristina on a shopping trip without Flor's permission, followed by a large amount of money John offers to Cristina for sea glass she found on the beach. (Though as John explains, she honestly worked for it) After a few verbal spats, Flor finally decides to learn English to better understand her employers.

One day Deborah reveals she has decided to enroll Cristina in private school, the same school which Bernice studies at. When Cristina learns this, she is delighted, but Flor is appalled. When Deborah allows Cristina to sleep over with her friends rather than attending a family affair with her mother, Flor decides she has had enough and comes to get her daughter. Meanwhile, John goes home after work that night, to have Deborah drop a bomb on him. She reveals she has been having an affair with their real estate rep. An emotionally-crushed John goes charging out the house where he meets Flor, who intended to go to the Clasky household to quit her job. The two end up getting into a car and head to John's restaurant where he cooks, and it proves an ultimate test for both when both are tempted to engage in an affair. Flor refuses with great difficulty, but not before telling John she loves him. Meanwhile, Evelyn is at the house to support her daughter in her time of need, even going so far as to being brutally honest in the process ('You're enjoying this mother' - 'No, I'm not; not in the way that you think I am anyway' - 'So you are enjoying this?!')

After the Claskys reconcile, Flor arrives to take Cristina, and after a tearful farewell, Cristina asks her mother if she could stay with the Claskys. Flor tells Cristina that she cannot go to the private school anymore and, in turn, she becomes angry with her mother. After a moment of silence at the bus stop, Flor asks Cristina a question that would define the rest of her life—whether she wants to become someone very different from her parent.

Cristina responds by boarding the bus with her mother and embracing her for the duration of their ride. As this scene plays, Cristina as an adult narrates acknowledging that "all she is today" rests on the simple fact that she is her mother's daughter.

Spoilers end here.

[edit] External links


Films Directed by James L. Brooks
Terms of Endearment | Broadcast News | I'll Do Anything | As Good as It Gets | Spanglish
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