Hay una flor en Spanglish Harlem

Usually, you can spot a mainstream, feel-good family movie from 30 miles away. Or so I thought, until Mom and I put our eyes upon Spanglish, the weirdest normal movie of that whole crazy year.

This here's the story of a father who's probably too nice, a mother who definitely isn't, and their daughter, Bernice, whose self-esteem for the next 70 years hangs in the balance.

This is also the story of Flor (Paz Vega) a Spanish woman looking for work, finding it right here in the midst of this dysfunctional home, and how she and her English-speaking daughter help to restore some lost love.

Sounds normal enough, right? Well, meet Tea Leoni's character, Deborah. As is shown in the previews, she is a mother who refuses to acquiesce to her daughter's obesity. Things only get worse when Flor's daughter Cristina comes into the picture. Deborah couldn't be happier with how beautiful, talented and articulate she is. So that leads to trouble.

And if you think you've seen the weirdest sex scene in the world, well lemme tell you, you haven't.

Adam Sandler, brings his egg-shaped head and a recently blossomed flor de talent to the character of John. Aside from struggling with the pressure of being the biggest culinary wizard in town, John is the "good father" whose kindness toward his daughter is grossly misinterpreted by Deborah as a way of making her look bad. There is a certain scene in which he is nervous about how the critics liked a meal he prepared for them. So his daughter takes the newspaper and reads the review for him, and it ends up that the review praised him to high Heaven. And what is his reaction? To compliment Bernice on how well she read it. I'm sorry but man, that's touching.

Spanglish has a wicked sense of humor, particularly when handling the situations caused by Cristina's being able to understand things her mother can't, and the ensuing interactions. Cristina translates her mother's words (even if she disagrees with them) using the same tone her mother would use. But then, imagine Flor's shock when she discovers that her daughter knows certain dirty words in both languages.

It's hard to talk about this one without spoilage, because most of the movie is one event right on top of another. There are constantly arguments here, confessions there, attempts to explain the unexplainable around every corner, and the changing of minds sweeping in like a soft breeze. One thing's for sure -- you're in for one of the most unpredictable films of the last several years. It's a battle to keep up with it all; you'll be so busy second guessing what will get resolved and what won't, because things just get trickier the farther you go. At the end, you might be too exhausted to even know how to react to the extremely bittersweet ending.

Usually, it's not that hard to decide who you believe is right when the spats break out. And that's not a problem when Sandler and Leoni get into it. The real pressure cooker is the conflict that develops between Sandler and Vega. I think the average spoiled American like myself would be inclined to side with Sandler, but only because this conflict revolves around protective parenting, which is not the rage it used to be even 10 years ago in America. The movie is smart to at least introduce itself from Vega's point of view, so one has to at least consider what it feels like to bring your child to a strange land before sitting back, crossing the arms and saying "Well she's being too protective." It's a complicated situation, easy to see both sides and frustrating in that you don't know who to cheer for.

I wish I could say the same were true for the husband/wife conflict, but then I guess if you HAVE to have a villain, it doesn't get much more original than Mommy. But still it's just so black and white. Either Tea Leoni is a brilliant actress or she was smoking some serious crack on the set. Both Mom and I agreed, her character was the most annoying thing since Spears. Somehow you never get a sense of what drives her, or what drives her un-drivenness until this huge rant which comes too late for you to throw together your sympathy. Sadly, the conflict between her and her very own daughter (one of the most affecting segments) never wholly resolves itself by the end.

Still, the acting is formidable, particularly that dished out by the lovely Paz Vega. She pulls one of those stunts where by the movie's end, she looks 10 years younger than she did going in. Which of course is really more a manifestation of an attitude change. But then, it seems like everyone's changing. Sandler himself is quite the surprise, injecting a welcome dose of levity which keeps the unspoken conflict a little less stifling.

The DVD includes a behind-the-scenes featurette and deleted scenes. A commentary would have been more than welcome, but alas, there is none. I suppose a year from now they put out a Special Edition that has one. Running time is a relatively far-reaching 130 minutes, and it's rated PG-13.

Do give Spanglish a gamble, and don't trust your first impression.