***WARNING*** This post contains spoilers about this film. If you haven't seen the film, don't see it, but feel free to read here anyway.
Does anyone else get tired of Hollywood droning on and on about how horrible they think America is? If so, pass on this movie.
The entire movie was one big "America is filled with selfish materialistic half-wits - only the more noble cultures (like Mexico) have any merit" cliché.
The protagonist is a woman who starts off on the wrong foot with me - by sneaking into the U.S. illegally (of course, the movie glorifies this, because she resisted coming for as long as she could and finally succumbed to lowering herself to come to the U.S. so she could find a better life for her daughter... the martyrdom...).
Once here, she is immediately put off by the garishness of the U.S. (which of course is represented by Los Angeles, which (IMHO) is the least American city in America). Fortunately, she is able to find a niche within the city where she is comfortable - a small segment of the city completely populated by other Latin Americans, who have created a little "Neuvo Laredo" right there in the city. No crime, of course - she is welcomed with open arms by the loving and giving community.
Finally, she finds a job that allows her to support her daughter - as a housekeeper for Tea Leoni - who represents a caricatured version of the American woman. Selfish, insecure, obsessed with her looks and career, inconsiderate - she represents (in the writer's opinion and in that of the protagonist) all that is wrong with America in personam. Her husband is a sweet but hen-pecked chef (Adam Sandler) whose greatest quality is, apparently, that he has the emotional personality of a "Latin woman" - lacking in the machismo and confidence of Mexican men (of course).
In the end, despite Leoni's desperate attempts to co-opt the heroine's daughter (since her own is a disappointing little fat kid), the heroine manages to protect her beloved culture in her daughter - by pulling her out of one of the finest prep schools in L.A., where Leoni was able to get her a full scholarship. The movie closes with the daughter writing a letter to Yale, warning them (somewhat pretentiously) that even if she's admitted, she won't change from the girl her mother wants her to be.
A pitiable commentary that thinly veils the writer (and director's?) obvious disdain for all that is the United States, this move is more propaganda than entertainment. Pass on this one, even as a rental.
Does anyone else get tired of Hollywood droning on and on about how horrible they think America is? If so, pass on this movie.
The entire movie was one big "America is filled with selfish materialistic half-wits - only the more noble cultures (like Mexico) have any merit" cliché.
The protagonist is a woman who starts off on the wrong foot with me - by sneaking into the U.S. illegally (of course, the movie glorifies this, because she resisted coming for as long as she could and finally succumbed to lowering herself to come to the U.S. so she could find a better life for her daughter... the martyrdom...).
Once here, she is immediately put off by the garishness of the U.S. (which of course is represented by Los Angeles, which (IMHO) is the least American city in America). Fortunately, she is able to find a niche within the city where she is comfortable - a small segment of the city completely populated by other Latin Americans, who have created a little "Neuvo Laredo" right there in the city. No crime, of course - she is welcomed with open arms by the loving and giving community.
Finally, she finds a job that allows her to support her daughter - as a housekeeper for Tea Leoni - who represents a caricatured version of the American woman. Selfish, insecure, obsessed with her looks and career, inconsiderate - she represents (in the writer's opinion and in that of the protagonist) all that is wrong with America in personam. Her husband is a sweet but hen-pecked chef (Adam Sandler) whose greatest quality is, apparently, that he has the emotional personality of a "Latin woman" - lacking in the machismo and confidence of Mexican men (of course).
In the end, despite Leoni's desperate attempts to co-opt the heroine's daughter (since her own is a disappointing little fat kid), the heroine manages to protect her beloved culture in her daughter - by pulling her out of one of the finest prep schools in L.A., where Leoni was able to get her a full scholarship. The movie closes with the daughter writing a letter to Yale, warning them (somewhat pretentiously) that even if she's admitted, she won't change from the girl her mother wants her to be.
A pitiable commentary that thinly veils the writer (and director's?) obvious disdain for all that is the United States, this move is more propaganda than entertainment. Pass on this one, even as a rental.