The phrase "better than expected" jumps to mind when trying to review this film. But when the expectations were set as low as mine were for this film, that's not saying much. Still, enough will be said about how the film is unconvincingly far-fetched and manipulatively stereotypical. So let's look at the good.
The theme of success is dealt with most explicitly in Sandler's character, but it seemed as if every character was also pursuing his/her own definition of success. The mother's success was defined by her daughter's weight-loss, projecting her own insecurities onto her. The grandmother wished to prevent people from making the same mistakes that she did. And Flor just wanted to provide for her daughter. So, with all these different definitions, it's interesting to see how they all react to it. Sandler rejects success as meaningless and ultimately destructive to what he really wants, the mother discovers that her pursuit of success is destroying her relationships with those around her, the grandmother finds comfort and atonement, and Flor just sticks it out, doing the best she can and staying true to her original goal.
This is all to say that Brooks is an excellent organiser of characters and their various positions. But saying that everyone reacts differently to success isn't exactly groundbreaking, and should be the subject of a sitcom rather than a film you pay $12 to see. Everything else in this film was just filler for me.
2 out of 5 - Bad outweighs the good
The theme of success is dealt with most explicitly in Sandler's character, but it seemed as if every character was also pursuing his/her own definition of success. The mother's success was defined by her daughter's weight-loss, projecting her own insecurities onto her. The grandmother wished to prevent people from making the same mistakes that she did. And Flor just wanted to provide for her daughter. So, with all these different definitions, it's interesting to see how they all react to it. Sandler rejects success as meaningless and ultimately destructive to what he really wants, the mother discovers that her pursuit of success is destroying her relationships with those around her, the grandmother finds comfort and atonement, and Flor just sticks it out, doing the best she can and staying true to her original goal.
This is all to say that Brooks is an excellent organiser of characters and their various positions. But saying that everyone reacts differently to success isn't exactly groundbreaking, and should be the subject of a sitcom rather than a film you pay $12 to see. Everything else in this film was just filler for me.
2 out of 5 - Bad outweighs the good