Spanglish (2004)

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Director:

James L. Brooks

Writer (WGA):

James L. Brooks (written by)

Release Date:

17 December 2004 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

Tagline:

A comedy with a language all its own.

Plot:

A woman and her daughter emigrate from Mexico for a better life in America, where they start working for a family where the patriarch is a newly celebrated chef with an insecure wife.

Plot Keywords:

Housekeeper | Chef | Mexico | Princeton | Language Barrier

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 4 wins & 9 nominations

Cast

Adam Sandler	...	John Clasky
Téa Leoni	...	Deborah Clasky
Paz Vega	...	Flor Moreno
Cloris Leachman	...	Evelyn Wright
Shelbie Bruce	...	Cristina Moreno
Sarah Steele	...	Bernice 'Bernie' Clasky
Ian Hyland	...	George 'Georgie' Clasky
Victoria Luna	...	Cristina Moreno - Age 6
Cecilia Suárez	...	Monica (as Cecilia Suarez)
Ricardo Molina	...	Flor's Husband
Brenda Canela	...	Luz
Eddy Martin	...	14-Year-Old Boy
Nicole Nieth	...	Hostess at Fancy Restaurant
Jamie Kaler	...	Businessman
James Lancaster	...	Businessman

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for some sexual content and brief language.

Runtime:

131 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Spanish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

UK:12 (video rating) (2005) | UK:12A (original rating) | Italy:T | Portugal:M/12 | Canada:PG (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba/Nova Scotia/Ontario) | Iceland:L | South Korea:12 | Malaysia:U | Argentina:Atp | Australia:M | Canada:G (Quebec) | Chile:TE | Finland:K-7 | Germany:6 | Ireland:12A | Netherlands:12 | Norway:7 | Philippines:PG-13 | Singapore:PG | Sweden:Btl | Switzerland:12 (canton of Zurich) | Switzerland:7 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:7 (canton of Vaud) | USA:PG-13 | Brazil:12 | Peru:PT

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

The film had 13 previews to see the audiences' reaction.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Deborah and Cristina return from the flea market Deborah is holding a white chandelier in her right hand. In the next shot when Cristina hands the blanket to Deborah the chandelier is gone. Deborah never put the chandelier down or handed it off, it simply vanished.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Boy's Voice: [voiceover to scene of people reviewing applications] To Dean of Admission, Princeton University. The most influential person in my life...
Girl's Voice: ...is Mother Teresa, whose example helped me overcome the arrogance which threatened after my 1600 SAT score in National Merit Scholarship
Girl's Voice #2: ...most influential person taught me the most important word I've ever learned; Aloha, which I...
Narrator: To the Dean of Admission, Princeton University, from Cristina Moreno. Most influential person, my Mother, No Contest!

Movie Connections:

Featured in The 62nd Annual Golden Globe Awards (2005) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Charlie's Angels Theme

El Norte of James L Brooks

Gregory Nava's "El Norte" was a memorable journey into the Latino experience in white wealthy country. That masterpiece had a heartbreaking scene between the Latino maid and a washing machine. "Spanglish" merely hints to a similar moment between the Latino maid and a coffee machine. The "merely hinting" is at the heart of this painful comedy of manners. This is the journey of an observer not of someone who actually lived it. As a consequence he treats his own with an iron hand and the others with a romantic, heroic, fairy taleish sort of slant. Putting aside the potential seriousness of the story, the film is a moving, entertainment fantasy in the land of opulence and guilt. The borders here are not geographic but personal, the aliens are the natives. They become illegal in their own existence and step all over their own lives without noticing, trying to care, trying to be the best they can possibly be but without points of reference or enough substance for their acts to have any kind of real meaning. Tea Leoni gives a performance of such fearlessness that sometimes you feel she may jump out of the screen. Cloris Leachman is great as an alcoholic wise woman who doesn't want to be judged. Paz Vega represents the ideal Latin heroine in a wealthy American's story. She is beautiful and powerful and utterly unlikely. Adam Sandler is Adam Sandler and seems to stand passively between the blonder than blond world of his wife and the exotic gorgeousness world of his maid. I would like to know what happened to Paz and her daughter after leaving behind the chances to be or become like everyone else in the white wealthy country of make believe, or is that too much to ask.