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Actors: Adam Sandler, Paz Vega, Téa Leoni, Cloris Leachman
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| Review Summary and Plot Commentary about Spanglish |
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Spanglish
Directed by James L. Brooks, 2004
Staring Adam Sandler, Paz Vega, Téa Leoni, Cloris Leachman
Flor, a young Mexican woman, upon being abandoned by her husband vows to make a good life for her daughter. After struggling for a few years in Mexico, Flor decides they have to move to the United States in order to survive. Wanting to raise her daughter as a Mexican, Flor chooses Los Angels, a city that is 45% Mexican, as their new home. Settling into an all Mexican neighborhood and working three jobs, Flor is able to provide her daughter with both security and a Mexican culture. However, with her mother away working all the time, the daughter, free of parental supervision, soon falls in with the wrong crowd. Upon discovering this, Flor is forced to venture into the Anglo world to find a higher paying job as a maid in an upscale household.
Flor quickly finds a job with the Clasky family and things go well despite the fact that Flor speaks no English the the Clasky's speak no Spanish. Better still, her new job as a maid pays more than her combined pay working three jobs, thus freeing her to spend more time with her daughter.
New challenges quickly arise as Deborah Clasky (Téa Leoni) decides the family should spend the summer at the beach and rents a home on the ocean in Malibu. This is no problem for her husband John (Adam Sandler), a chef, as it is still a reasonable commute to the restaurant he owns. However, for Flor this is a problem as there is no bus service between Malibu and her home in central Los Angeles. Deborah solves this problem by providing Flor and her daughter with living quarters in the beach home. Deborah's relationship with Flor is strained as she attempts to steer Flor's daughter toward her own upper middle class American lifestyle and away from Flor's desire to raise her daughter as a Mexican. Deborah's compulsive tendencies are also alienating her from her husband and mother causing John to drift toward a relationship with Flor.
--Chuck Nugent, Resident Scholar
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| Analysis of Spanglish |
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Time/era of movie:
- present (2000-2010)
Ethnic/Regional/Gender story?
Yes
Main Char. ethnic: (if not US Caucasian)
- Hispanic/Spanish
Woman/class/friends story?
- immigrant story
Culture clash?
- being oppressed by outside culture
Culture of surrounding area:
- American Pacific Coast
Main Character
Identity:
- Female
Profession/status:
- servant
Age:
- 20's-30's
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events?
Yes
Hair color?
- brunette (Black)
Events of movie makes character more...
- tougher
Ethnicity/Nationality
- Hispanic/Latinic
How sensitive is this character?
- sensitive to others' feelings
Secondary Main Character
Identity:
- Male
How much in movie?
- 60%
Ethnicity/Nationality
- White (American)
Main Adversary
Identity:
- Female
Age:
- 40's-50's
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- 80%
Ethnicity/Nationality
- White (American)
How sensitive is this character?
- middling sensitive to others' feelings
Setting
United States
Yes
The US:
- California
City?
Yes
City:
- Los Angeles
Style
Accounts of torture and death?
- no torture/death
Movie makes you feel...
- encouraged
Sex/nudity in movie?
Yes
What kind of sex:
- vague references only
- kissing
- touching of personal anatomy
- sex under blankets
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Resident Scholar Profiles
TOP SCHOLAR:
 Chuck Nugent
SCHOLARS:
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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
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