SPANGLISH
US, 2004, 130 minutes, Colour.
Adam Sandler, Paz Vega, Tea Leone, Chloris Leachman, Shelbie Bruce, Sarah Steel.
Directed by James L. Brooks.
If there can be Franglais, then why not Spanglish!
James L Brooks won an Oscar for Terms of Endearment but directs few films. His last was the 1997, As Good as it Gets. He is in something of the same thematic area here although the setting is Los Angeles and we have two mothers and daughters.
This is a kind of fairytale with a realistic ending. Part of it is the dream for Hispanic migrants to find a well-paid job and provide for the family in America. Part of it is the nightmare of working in a dysfunctional American household and finding that the daughter wants nothing more than to be just like the Americans.
It works and it doesn’t, but it’s the kind of goodhearted film that you should give the benefit of the doubt to – and, then, maybe its Brooks’s close association with the Simpsons over the years that he writes a kind of live-action Simpsons.
Whatever the characters and caricatures, one thing is certain, Brooks as director and writer seems besotted with Spanish star, Paz Vega (Carmen, Sex and Lucia). The camera loves her and so do we. She is Flor, the maid and housekeeper, beautiful, vivacious, generally common-sensed and principled. Shelbie Bruce as her daughter is a convincing young actress and has some marvellous scenes where she not only translates but acts out the conversations she is translating.
So, the Hispanic side is pretty good and the themes worth responding too.
Now, the American family. Tea Leoni is a mother of two who is an emotional wreck, driven, incessantly talking and commenting on her behaviour, insensitive to her non-slim daughter and grating on her long-suffering husband. She blames her alcoholic ex-singer mother for being crazy and mixed up. (It is a pleasure to see Cloris Leachman as the mother – she has the good lines.)
And, Adam Sandler is the husband, a master chef, a kind man and loving father. In fact, Flor is amazed that his sensibility seems more like that of a Mexican woman. He wanders befuddled through the film, affirming his daughter, bewildered by his wife, dissatisfied that the personal touch is being removed from his acclaimed and over-booked restaurant and more and more drawn towards Flor. This is not the Airheads Sandler. Rather it is the Sandler of Punch Drunk Love and he makes the character his own.
The film really is sometimes irritating, sometimes lovable.
1. A successful romantic comedy American style? The romantic aspects, comic? Insights into character, family, relationships? The American perspective? The Hispanic perspective?
2. The tone of the clever title, humour? The use of Spanish in the film, reminding Americans of the domination of the Spanish language in the US? The daughter translating her mother’s statements for John? John’s statements for her mother? The highly expressive translations?
3. The Mexican opening, the visuals of Mexico compared with those of California, Los Angeles? The ordinary Hispanic versus American affluence? Homes, the restaurant? The musical score?
4. The introduction to Flor via her daughter, the voice-over, the writing the letter to the university, the framework for the film? Her praise of her mother? Her experiences? At home, Flor weeping outside her house and not letting her daughter know? The husband’s departure? Their being abandoned, the decision to go to the US – the difficulties and the ease of crossing the border?
5. Jobs, interviews, language difficulties, emotional connections, especially with Deborah?
6. Debbie and her character, incessant talk, not reflecting, her attitude towards work, her humiliation of Bernice about her size, her mother and her drinking, John and his work? Her being flustered, facial tics and manners? Emotional outbursts, moods? Going out? The difficulties in pronouncing Flor’s name? The meaning of her life, her relationship? Her daughter’s clothes and her daughter’s reaction? The decision to go to the beach, her putting pressure on the family, on John, on Flor? The affair, talking to John, blaming her mother and her bad example, the final confrontation with John? Her mother’s advice on what to say and what not to say? Her relationship with her daughter, taking Christina as a surrogate daughter, gifts, hairdressers, to school, taking over her life, the application for the affluent school, pulling strings? Her having to face the reality that Christina was Flor’s daughter?
7. Adam Sandler as John, his manner, at work, relationship with the staff, his success as a restaurant manager and chef? Friendship with the staff? The critic and his enjoying the meal, everybody in the family reading the newspaper report? His not wanting to be a star restaurateur? Wanting people to come and enjoy their meals? The discussions with Flor, the clash with her, the big argument about her interfering with Bernice’s clothes after she was resentful about him giving Christina money? The going to the beach, the holiday and the summer? His strained relationship with Debbie, trying to cope with her? The affair, the truth? Walking out, going with Flor to the restaurant, the bond between them but the reticence and restraint? Love, talk? His reaction to Flor’s final decisions? The farewell? Flor estimating that his temperament was more that of an emotional Mexican woman rather than a macho man?
8. Bernice, age, appearance, fat, her mother’s taunts, the clothes, Flor altering them? Her joy, the friendship with Christina, sharing school, sleepovers? The end and the separation?
9. Debbie’s mother, her age, her continued drinking, the funny one-liners, her shrewd observations? Her past, accepting the blame? Giving up the drink and people not noticing? The bonds with Flor and understanding her? With John and supporting him? Debbie, her affair, confessing to her mother, her giving advice, being useful?
10. The portrait of Flor, in herself, age and experience, the failed marriage, her love for her daughter, the weeping, coming to America? The interview for work? Being accepted? Trying to cope with Debbie? Altering Bernice’s clothes for her? The shock at the kinds of chores she had? Having to go to the beach? The fight with John about his giving the money, her reaction to altering Bernice’s clothes and how this was interpreted? The decision to learn English, the collage of her learning, the cassettes? The issue of Christina’s schooling, Debbie’s interference, her being hurt? The celebrations at home, Christina and her going to get her from the sleepover? Her leaving, going with John to the restaurant, expression of love, her decision to leave, talking, going? The difficulties with taking her daughter away, the clash in the street, at the bus stop? Her daughter’s future? Flor’s future?
11. Christina, the framework of the voice-over, her skills in interpreting, her needing to learn, wanting to learn? The friendship with Bernice? American life, her mother saying that she was becoming like all Americans? The school, with the girls, her snobbery, the sleepover, the crisis? Fight with her mother, feeling she would be deprived? The learning experience for her?
12. The restaurant staff, their lives, admiration for John, working on their own, the visit of the critic – the man who wanted out and John wanting him to stay, increasing his payment?
13. The principal, influenced by Debbie? The tour of the school, the kind of school she ran?
14. A film of romance, a film of comedy, a film of eccentricity? Relationships, family, values and principles?
