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Spanglish
Metascore
48 out of 100

Mixed or average reviews - based on 37 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 15 out of 37
  2. Mixed: 15 out of 37
  3. Negative: 7 out of 37
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  1. Rolling Stone
    Reviewed by: Peter Travers
    88
    A rich blend of humor and heartbreak.
  2. Philadelphia Inquirer
    Reviewed by: Carrie Rickey
    88
    A pepperpot bubbling with pungent insights and sharp wit, Spanglish is about how people, like cultures, are more alike than not.
  3. USA Today
    Reviewed by: Mike Clark
    88
    The one movie families search for every Christmas for an outing, the way "Something's Gotta Give" was last year and "Jerry Maguire" was in 1996.
  4. Boston Globe
    Reviewed by: Wesley Morris
    88
    What he's (Brooks) come up with is one of the most humane works ever made about the lives of working mothers.
  5. The Hollywood Reporter
    Reviewed by: Kirk Honeycutt
    80
    Brooks is solidly in charge of this feel-good fairy tale as he gets terrific performances from everyone including two super-talented child actors.
  6. Empire
    Reviewed by: Ian Freer
    80
    A satisfying and grown-up flick that boasts all of James L. Brooks' strengths. It's good to welcome back a unique, low-key voice.
  7. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Desson Thomson
    80
    Above all, the movie's funny and wicked fun.
  8. Chicago Sun-Times
    Reviewed by: Roger Ebert
    75
    The movie is not quite the sitcom the setup seems to suggest; there are some character quirks that make it intriguing.
  9. ReelViews
    Reviewed by: James Berardinelli
    75
    trong on characters and relationships, but weak on some of the details that would elevate it from merely "good" to "great."
  10. Premiere
    Reviewed by: Peter Debruge
    75
    Doesn't always work -- like its title, the movie straddles two separate worlds, landing squarely in the dreaded realm of "dramedy" -- but it's a noble effort.
  11. The A.V. Club
    Reviewed by: Scott Tobias
    70
    Though Brooks has a broad, crowd-pleasing sensibility, he knows how to appeal to the masses without insulting anyone's intelligence, and that's a rare gift these days.
  12. Seattle Post-Intelligencer
    Reviewed by: William Arnold
    67
    Much of it is funny and endearing, and its toned-down star, Adam Sandler, is as winning as he's ever been.
  13. Miami Herald
    Reviewed by: Rene Rodriguez
    63
    The message in Spanglish is thoughtful and astute; it's the delivery that could use some work.
  14. New York Daily News
    Reviewed by: Jack Mathews
    63
    An unusually shallow and facile work for Brooks, but the writing and the performances - other than Leoni's - keep us at least halfway involved.
    All this critic's reviews
  15. The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
    Reviewed by: Rick Groen
    63
    There's a wonderfully subversive film buried somewhere in Spanglish, but it's never allowed to get out.
  16. TV Guide
    Reviewed by: Angel Cohn
    60
    Surprisingly heartfelt tale.
  17. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Kenneth Turan
    60
    Frustrating though it can be, Spanglish still proves to be as resilient as its characters.
  18. Newsweek
    Reviewed by: David Ansen
    60
    Spanglish feels hemmed in, visually monotonous. There are signs that a lot has been cut, and in trimming his film Brooks may have squeezed too tight: his movie needs breathing space.
  19. Chicago Tribune
    Reviewed by: Allison Benedikt
    50
    Only resonates when he (Brooks) strips it all away and focuses on parent and child.
  20. Christian Science Monitor
    Reviewed by: David Sterritt
    50
    Ultimately more exasperating than rewarding.
  21. New York Post
    Reviewed by: Lou Lumenick
    50
    Whatever message Brooks was trying to put across with Spanglish, it clearly got lost in translaaaaaaaaaaation.
  22. San Francisco Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Carla Meyer
    50
    Leoni is a very attractive woman, and she should be credited for giving a brave performance, but her character starts to produce involuntary shudders when she appears onscreen.
  23. Portland Oregonian
    Reviewed by: Barry Johnson
    50
    Could have had charm if the characters had been more recognizable as human beings.
    All this critic's reviews
  24. Chicago Reader
    Reviewed by: Jonathan Rosenbaum
    50
    Brooks has an uncanny talent for making us feel insightful.
  25. Village Voice
    Reviewed by: Amy Taubin
    40
    The beauty of Sandler's performance -- a superbly modulated suite of crestfallen groans and grimaces -- is he often seems to be reacting not just to his crazy wife but also to the dismal movie he's stuck in.
  26. Village Voice
    Reviewed by: Dennis Lim
    40
    The beauty of Sandler's performance -- a superbly modulated suite of crestfallen groans and grimaces -- is he often seems to be reacting not just to his crazy wife but also to the dismal movie he's stuck in.
  27. Dallas Observer
    Reviewed by: Robert Wilonsky
    40
    Never quite works, despite the wonderful performances or the decency in the screenplay's margins.
  28. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Dana Stevens
    40
    Mr. Sandler has a solid, fumbling likability, without which Spanglish would be not merely annoying but despicable in its slick complacency.
  29. Variety
    Reviewed by: Todd McCarthy
    40
    Short on real drama and incident and long on tedium.
  30. Wall Street Journal
    Reviewed by: Joe Morgenstern
    40
    I've enjoyed Ms. Leoni's comic gifts in the past, and I'll enjoy them again, but Spanglish asks her to play crazed, and she delivers with a performance of unremitting, crazymaking shrillness.
    All this critic's reviews
  31. Baltimore Sun
    Reviewed by: Michael Sragow
    38
    As a romance, Spanglish is like a wholesome flirt who drags things out and becomes a tiresome tease. As a satire of upper-middle-class Los Angeles, it's a disaster.
  32. Austin Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Marjorie Baumgarten
    30
    It's unclear what Brooks is trying to say about our melting-pot culture, if anything.
  33. Salon.com
    Reviewed by: Charles Taylor
    30
    The pacing is off, the emotional tone is wobbly, and none of the actors seem to be acting in the same style or the same movie.
  34. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Stephen Hunter
    30
    So rancid is Brooks's fury that it's clouded his judgment, so that each of his main characters is a stereotype of the most broad-brush, malodorous nature.
  35. The New Yorker
    Reviewed by: David Denby
    30
    Spanglish chokes on an excess of sincerity and guilt, and, in retrospect, its failure may turn out to be momentous for a sincere and guilty community--Hollywood liberals in a state of post-election dismay.
  36. Entertainment Weekly
    Reviewed by: Lisa Schwarzbaum
    25
    This is a deeply unpleasant movie masquerading as a heartfelt social commentary on life in these United States.
  37. L.A. Weekly
    Reviewed by: Scott Foundas
    20
    Spanglish is Brooks' unqualified kitchen disaster - a desperate, shapeless, overreaching big-screen sitcom of a movie that just wants to be loved. Is that so wrong? In a word, yes.
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User Reviews

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User Score
6.6 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 59 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 32 out of 45
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 45
  3. Negative: 10 out of 45
  1. ScottW.
    10
    This movie loves all its characters, each with their own foibles and hardships. The script bubbles with whimsy and intelligence. There are many laugh out loud moments, but the humor always emerges from characters naturally, and advances their development. Two families converge, a Mexican immigrant turned au pair and her pubescent daughter, and a successful chef, his wife, their son and daughter and her alcoholic mother. Nearly every adult family member hurts the others incidentally--most sadly their children--as they pursue their own, not unworthy goals. But through the grace of a platonic romance between the chef and au pair, the convergent families nudge each into mindful repair of their relationships and a healthier view of themselves. Wonderful acting, especially a superlative Tea Leoni. This movie inspires and delights so, you won't walk away from it, you'll float. And your feet won't have to touch the ground, for a little while at least.… Full Review »
  2. Celso
    9
    It's pretty understandable that some women dislike this movie, it leaves the average American women naked sex and emotionalwise. Awesome.
  3. RachelC
    0
    The worst movie I've seen in years. Misogynistic crap: i.e. we are meant to laugh at a woman because she makes faces while having an orgasm, wants sex, and is bored since losing her job. And the contrast made with the supportive, maternal, sensual, and 'salt-of-the-earth' Latina maid is just a counterpoint of stereotypes (racial, gender, and class). Most of all though the film is all about support for Sandler (your hardworking everyman with a dream) and mean brutal hatred for his one-dimensional wife (Leoni). Invidious and evil stuff.… Full Review »
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