Spanglish

Scott Hardie: “It sucked.”

Maybe James L. Brooks has been making cartoons too long. This sub-sitcom "drama" bears no resemblance to real life, but it strives for heart-wrenching drama in nearly every scene. A character is in meltdown at any given moment, and the endless string of crises really tests an audience's willingness to care. This family needs professional therapy, not a cinematic stereotype, the magical poor racial-minority who solves all the white folks' problems. Whatever dramatic-acting cred Adam Sandler built up in Punch-Drunk Love is torpedoed here; he joins everyone else in a hyperactive scene-chewing frenzy. Some movies need to be medicated.

− July 27, 2008 • more by Scott • log in or create an account to reply

Jackie Mason: I actually think Tea Leoni added to the hyperactive frustration of this movie more than Adam Sander. What frustrated me also was the language barrier between the two of them. Sandler and the housekeeper. Even their no release foreplay that goes no where left you frustrated. It was just...odd.

Then you realize that this is narrated by the daughter. The point of view is odd too because some of those scenes are not scenes that the daugher or the housekeeper mother would have bore witness to.

The only thing I did like about this movie was that the daughters were able to establish positive relationships with the other mom because they felt like their own mother didn't get it. − July 30, 2008 • more by Jackie