Lost in Translation?

Far and away, my two favorite Adam Sandler movies are the ones that most people wouldn't call Adam Sandler movies at all: Punch Drunk Love and - seen for the first time last night - Spanglish.

In Spanglish, Adam Sandler plays a man whose life is thrown into turmoil by thwo developments - first, the hiring of a Spanish-speaking housekeeper, and second, the reviewing of his restaurant with four stars from the New York Times. Throughout every development in his life, Sandler's chef continues to be a good, decent man doing his best to keep his life together. His wife loses her job and begins to freak out, doubting herself and looking for any new way to prove her worth to herself. His restaurant places more demands on his time as its popularity grows by leaps and bounds. And he finds himself attracted to the strong, generous, beautiful new woman in his life.

Throughout the film, Sandler plays his character with quiet dignity, only occasionally showing cracks in his facade, rarely letting the pressure get to him, but never quite giving in to the obvious temptations, either.

Sandler's performance is uncharacteristically restrained, showing only a small amount of typical quirkiness and broad comedy that he often shows in his more typical roles. Tea Leoni gives a great performance as his wife whose world seems to be falling apart around her, and Cloris Leachman and newcomer Sarah Steele round their more minor characters into great additions to the film.

But the heart of the film comes from Paz Vega in the roll of Flor, the Mexican housekeeper who learns English so that she can begin to live on her own in her new world, and Shelbie Bruce, her daughter, who finds herself torn between the two world of her mother's culture and her new family's wealthy world.

Again, this film turns into a story between two people - but it is hard to know whether the relationship between Sandler and Vega is more important or between Vega and Bruce. THe pull between the desires of a woman for a man and a mother for a better life for her daughter define this film. And the schanllege between the two makes for a beautiful film.

I do feel duty-bound to mention, however, that the film is not without its critics. Some reviewers have brought criticism of Spanglish for its casting of a Spanish actress in the roll of Mexican housekeeper - citing perhaps Anglo stereotypes of what Mexican beauty should be. Others have also pointed to the lack of understanding of the Hispanic side of the story due to the filmwriter's lack of understanding of the struggles that Hispanic immigrants have to undergo in their attempt to balance assimilation and cultural pride.

I am, admittedly, not able to empathize with the plights of Hispanics in such situations, and hence I do not see the criticisms myself. I did, however, see a beautiful film that tells at least one version of the story.