There is most certainly something in Spanglish for every member of your family! The cast is fabulous. Spaniard Paz Vega appears quite natural and convincing as Mexican Flor Moreno. Adam Sandler shows definite versatility as both a dramatic and comedic actor. Tea Leoni, here almost outshines everyone in her role of a rather endearing but neurotic American housewife. And the young, Shelbie Bruce, playing the role of Flors daughter, Cristina, waxes totally bilingual/bicultural.

However, do not let your pre-viewing expectations get too high! Regardless of being a must see film for all Hispanics who live, have lived or who have had an extended stay in the U. S., Spanglish does have its faults! Producer/director/writer, James L. Brooks, despite having directed such classics as Broadcast News, As Good As It Gets and Terms of Endearment, seems that here there are moments he became too enamored of his own work, causing some excesses. The film drags a bit at over 2 hours. It would have been a more enjoyable film if Brooks had left at least 10 or 15 minutes on the cutting room floor.

In most of the standard areas one eveluates regarding the production values used in making Spanglish... It seems that just about all of them are quite acceptable. Probably even a tad better than most!

However, Spanglish does suffer from moments of rather lackluster script-writing and direction of its principle characters, with too many mugging facial close-ups. These exaggerated expressions often did not seem the least bit natural. Spanglish also would like to convince us that someone can go from a beginner in English to someone with tremendous proficiency in a breezy 2 or 3 months! That seems like quite a lot of Suspension of Disbelief! If it were that easy, we would all speak five languages, right? Despite the few weaknesses highlighted here, Spanglish is guaranteed to impact you a lot! 7*******

This review was redacted after going over the IMDb guidelines for submitting Reviews with the utmost intensive and extreme care. I am certain that it meets all the standards and points mentioned therein. So most certainly...I hope this Review will meet with Your approval and considered to be Helpful.....Enjoy!

It's funny, because when I saw this film advertised, I thought it was an Adam Sandler film. And, while technically is IS since he's one of the stars of the movie, unknown Paz Vega is the star of the film.

Paz plays Flor, a Mexican lady who brings her daughter to America for an opportunity for a better life. However, eventually Flor decides that her working two jobs to make ends meet isn't working--especially since her daughter, Cristina, is nearing puberty and she wants to be home evenings with her. So, she leaves the comfort of the Mexican-American neighborhood where she lives and obtains a job as a maid for screwed up folks, the Clasky family.

Mrs. Clasky (Téa Leoni) is a self-absorbed and neurotic woman. She is a meddler and seems to care little about personal boundaries or other people's feelings. Her husband (Adam Sandler) is a nice guy who makes great money, but he also never seems to be able to stand up to his domineering wife--and he definitely should as she tends to walk over people. They have two kids--a daughter who is constantly being told by the mother that she needs to lose weight and a son who is practically non-existent in the film.

What makes it more difficult for Flor in this seemingly nice but troubled family is that she barely understands a word of English. And, later, when the Claskys rent a summer home in Malibu, they don't even realize that Flor CAN'T move with them because she has a daughter at home--a daughter the Claskys never knew existed! When they learn of her, they invite BOTH to move there with them. This misunderstanding brings to a head the need to get past this language barrier and Flor finally breaks down and buys language CDs and begins to learn English.

While you'd think all this would be great, it wasn't. Mrs. Clasky almost immediately acts like Cristina is now her little dress up doll--and soon begins to act like her mother--ignoring Flor's feelings. This brings a lot of tension into the household and ultimately this is not fully resolved, as Mrs. Clasky is simply too self-involved to consider Flor's feelings. However, when misunderstandings occur between Flor and Mr. Clasky, Flor is surprised that he is actually willing to listen and you can see that they begin to forge a friendship.

Mrs. Clasky's meddling continues. Now she not only wants to take Cristina places and do things for her, now she wants to send the child to the same prestigious private school that her own kids attend. It's a nice gesture...but not once does Mrs. Clasky ask Flor for permission and she completely undermines her as a parent. The audience at this point clearly hates Mrs. Clasky.

The hatred of Mrs. Clasky continues to grow. Not only does she tend to ignore her husband and his emotional needs, she tries to manipulate the daughter to gain weight (thus crushing the kid's self-esteem),take over as Cristina's mother...but she begins cheating on her husband--the man who loves her and gives her everything...except strength. You like Mr. Clasky, but he does seem like a very nice wimp to put up with this prima donna of a wife.

When he does learn of her infidelity, he almost immediately runs to Flor for support. You can tell that he's wanted a relationship with Flor for some time but didn't act upon because he's a nice person--too nice to just cheat on his wife--at least until he learned of her infidelity. Somewhat surprisingly, Flor's feelings are the same--she has secretly loved him for some time but did nothing because she didn't want to hurt the marriage. Now that the marriage appeared nearing an end, Flor and Mr. Clasky contemplate taking their relationship to the next level.

As you can tell by the plot, this really isn't a comedy and the movie eventually becomes a rather dark film. While this makes the movie pretty sad viewing (particularly if you've been in a marriage that has dissolved),it is interesting because such things can and do happen. And, this makes the film very interesting--and unusual because of its unusual family dynamics. Because of this, the biggest star of this film actually may just be the writing. It poses some interesting moral questions and makes you think about the roles everyone has in this failed marriage--not just the self-absorbed wife but the wimpy husband.

Overall, a very interesting film and you probably will enjoy it as long as you are not dead-set on seeing a comedy! Many Adam Sandler fans might be disappointed in this, but I have enjoyed many of his non-comedic and light-comedic roles.

I was really surprised at how much I enjoyed Spanglish. I say that because I do not like Adam Sandler that much, but saying that he has given some likable performances(ie. 50 First Dates and The Wedding Singer). Here in Spanglish he gives a really strong performance, both effortlessly natural and quietly charming. That is not the only good thing about Spanglish though. Sandler is well supported by a strong cast, with Tea Leoni suitably shrill and highly strung as Deborah, Paz Vega gentle and maternal as the Mexican single mother-housekeeper and a wonderful Sarah Steele as Bernice. I also loved Cloris Leachman here, she is a great actress and here she is great as always. The scenery and soundtrack are both magical, the script has a perfect mix of wry laughs and uplifting sentiment, there are a number of poignant moments particularly the contrast between Flor's heart and Deborah's bluntness and the direction is astute. The picture may be a tad too long, but overall Spanglish was just a pleasant surprise. 9/10 Bethany Cox