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First, about Adam Sandler and me.
I like Adam
Sandler. I hope he’s the nice person that I feel he is –
though I really don’t want to know. I’m the type of person
that is affected by that sort of thing.
I enjoyed Spanlish for many
reasons that I will list below. It is a wonderful film and
I wholeheartedly recommend it. It’s super!
Before I
review the film, I have to say this about Mr. Sandler and
me. I repeat, I like the man. I’m happy for his success;
it is well earned. There is nothing I can say about him
that is negative.
Notice, I have
not used the word BUT. That is because once you stick a
‘but’ in, it tends to negate everything you said before.
And I do not want anything I say here to be misunderstood
and take anything away from Mr. Sandler, his acting, or this
film. Mr. Sandler, his acting and this film are all
wonderful; he is a talented man. The problem is with me;
it’s a matter between my personality and the personality of
many of his characters.
There are
certain things that I don’t like to watch in film. I don’t
like to see children hurt, cheating spouses, rape, and, I
don’t like to see a nice guy who’s a schnook. You know,
someone who goes out of his way to be the nicest person that
he can be, only to get screwed over. I’m just too damn
empathetic.
Red Skelton
and Jackie Gleason, two of my favorite comedians, each had a
character that was a sweet guy and a schnook. As a kid, I’d
leave the room until that character’s skit was done. Dad
would say, “Just sit here and watch it, it will be over in
ten minutes.” Mamma, on the other hand, would give me that
understanding smile of hers and say, “I’ll call you when
it’s over.”
I always liked
her.
John Clasky is
just this kind of character but without too much emphasis.
On an important day for his business and his career, just as
everyone is at the beginning of poring on the accolades, a
key person in his organization literally pulls him away, out
of the sun he was about to bask in, and takes advantage of
him.
This ticked me
off to the point that were I Tony Saprano, I’d have paused
the film and put a hit on the actor. Spanglish is such a
good film, Sandler, and the whole cast do such a great job,
that this did not ruin the film for me.
Spanglish and my opinion.
There is a
great deal of excellent acting in this very enjoyable
story. Cloris Leachman at 79 gives a wonderful performance
as Tea Leone’s mother. Tea Leone, Deborah Clasky, wife of
John Clasky (Adam Sandler), is an aggressively stressed out,
dissatisfied, unemployed designer. It is her believable
performance that sets the tone of the film.
A surprisingly
good performance is given by Shelbie Bruce as twelve or
thirteen year old Cristina. This character provides a
different type of tension to the cauldron, the tension that
only an innocence child experiencing big changes can bring
to a household.
Her
translating scene is very cute; she translates for two
people who are arguing with each other in different
languages, and acts out their emotions as she translates.
It is a wonderful scene.
Take the
high-tension home of John Clasky, a family of five, six
counting the playful dog: Mild mannered John, a grommet chef
and restaurateur, and loving father. Bernice, lovable, but
overweight teenage girl, and her younger brother Georgie.
The mother-in-law Evelyn, a retired jazz singer and
practicing alcoholic, and her daughter, John’s wife Deborah,
the stress machine. Deborah is a person who only has to
walk into a room to destroy any and all peace and harmony.
Now add to
this cauldron of stress and tears a new housekeeper who is
not only drop-dead gorgeous, but is loving and caring, and
does not speak a word of English.
Now you have
the perfect situation for comedy and sorrow, for laughs and
tears, for old love and new love.
While this
recipe could easily produce the kind of film that might
cause the epitaph, “it had great potential,” director/writer
James L. Brooks, delivers to us a winner.
Add this one
to your DVD collection.
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