SPANGLISH

"You don't speak any English?"

Fleeing from Mexico, Flor (Vega) and her daughter Cristina (Bruce) try and make a life for themselves in USA. After living there for six years, Cristina is growing up and Flor needs more money to give her the life she deserves. Her cousin Monica (Suárez) arranges an interview for her with the Clasky's, to be their maid. Even though Flor gets the job she finds that not speaking any English is not the only problem she will come up against.

Writer/director James L. Brooks has an excellent comedic pedigree but can 'Spanglish' keep up his reputation?

After the success of 'Teams of Endearment', 'Broadcast News' and 'As Good As It Gets', anticipation for the next film by Brooks was always going to be high but 'Spanglish' is a disappointment compared to that illustrious three. The film just doesn't have the characters or storyline to keep you engaged for duration of the movie.

The language barrier has many opportunities for comedy, as differences and similarities between different cultures can be a hotbed for comedy but the movie doesn't really push these to their full potential. While no one was ever going to expect any racist jokes from Brooks, you do expect the odd few plays on cultural diversity, not from the Mexican character's standpoint but as she enters into the strange world of white America in Los Angeles. Brooks does create a slightly dysfunctional family but none of their problems are anything we haven't seen before.

The Clasky's are your stereotypical rich family that has graced many a film. You have a neurotic wife, Deborah (played by the underrated Téa Leoni) who thinks everything and everyone is against her as she tries to make her life and everyone's around her perfect. You have a slightly overweight and under confident daughter, Bernice (played by newcomer Sarah Steele) who just needs someone to believe in her to make her better about herself. You have a son Georgie, who is slightly kooky and a Grandmother, Evelyn (played wonderfully by Cloris Leachman, providing most of the laughs) who is your typical ex-show business type with a drinking problem. Finally you have the head of the household, John (played by a very restrained Adam Sandler) an internationally renowned chef and an all around nice guy who is continually dumped upon by his wife, making you wonder why they are still together. A colourful collection of characters you may think but there is absolutely nothing new here to pull you into their world.

Brooks wisely makes these secondary characters however and the film comes from the prospective of Cristina. Narrated from an essay that accompanies Cristina's application to Princeton University, the film outlines the daughter's respect and love for what her mother has achieved since moving from Mexico to USA. She tells us about growing up within the Hispanic community for six years and then how her and her mother became involved with the Clasky's. The pair then becomes the driving force of the movie with the dysfunctional Clasky's trying to drag them into their very small problems. Both Paz Vega and Shelbie Bruce are excellent as Flor and the older Cristina as we follow them into this new world but Brooks concentrates too much on the language barrier more than the culture differences angle to create his laughs. While the exchanges between Flor and the family, with Cristina interpreting are entertaining, this becomes a one-joke movie that really doesn't even push that to its full potential.

Fans of James L. Brooks would have been expecting a lot from 'Spanglish' but what they get is a movie were nothing much happens. With only a few laughs and far too much melodrama, the movie just isn't as entertaining as it should have been, especially with the cast involved. In fact it is their performances alone that stop it from been a complete disaster. This is not a film about the language barrier but a barrier to comedy.