Spanglish

The fact that Spanglish is narrated through the contrivance of a college application letter is typical of the calculating, false tone of writer-director James L. Brooks' latest Oscar-baiting human-condition dramedy. Written by a teenage girl (Shelbie Bruce) who tells the story of her immigrant mother's honor and determination, this letter all too carefully works the audience's empathy and sense of humor, becoming a manipulative and wholly deliberate plot device. After sneaking them across the Mexican border, the girl's beautiful, indomitable mom (Paz Vega) becomes a rift-healing, down-to-earth, "no hablo inglés" Mary Poppins maid for a harried yuppie family in upscale Brentwood (irresolute dad Adam Sandler, neurotic, high-strung mom Tea Leoni, and two kids). But the character exists primarily as a catalyst for Brooks' examination of the challenges of marriage and parenthood, and while Vega strikes a balance as an intelligent, passionate, tenacious single mother who struggles to fit into a foreign culture but refuses to relinquish any of her dignity or fortitude (she is in no way a punch line or an illegal-immigrant cliché), most of Spanglish feels conspicuously make-believe, from its soundstage beachfronts to its idealized, even-headed children. Optional. [Note: DVD extras include audio commentary by writer-director James L. Brooks and editors Richard Marks and Tia Nolan, 12 additional scenes with optional director’s commentary (31 min.), an HBO: First Look “making-of” featurette (13 min.), a featurette on casting sessions with optional commentary (5 min.), “How to Make the World’s Greatest Sandwich” by Chef Thomas Keller of the French Laundry (4 min.), trailers, and DVD-ROM features (including a shooting script). Bottom line: a fine extras package for a film that split the critics.] (R. Blackwelder)