Spanglish, Movie Review

Adam Sandler has become a very rich man by dishing out some entertaining but less than critically acclaimed movies. Anyone seen The Waterboy, Billy Madison, Little Nicky, Big Daddy, or Happy Gilmore recently? Although you have to love Happy Gilmore if for no reason than the Bob Barker/Happy Gillmore throw down. But I digress.

If you’re in the mood for a different side of Sandler, I recommend you take a look at Spanglish. He displays a much wider range of acting ability than in his other roles, and the results are grea. Sandler plays a chef/father that’s going through some challenging times at home with his “a bit too intense wife” played by Tea Leoni. As the title of the film would suggest, the primary focus is on Paz Vega, a recent immigrant that takes a housekeeping job at the home of Sandler and Leoni, and her daughter. The daughter goes through some tough times as she gets used to being around the money of Sandler and his family while also being the voice of her mother who only speaks broken English. The resulting clash of cultures is interesting to watch and Sander does a great job trying to maintain control over his extended family. It’s nice to see him in a more serious role while leaving the punch lines to others…most notably the mother of Leoni’s character that happens to be an ex-jazz singer that hits the sauce at about 9am every day. On the whole, Spanglish is a great movie.