Spanglish(2004)

Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE)

PG-13
Rated PG-13 for some sexual content and brief language
2h 11m

Release Date: Dec 17, 2004

54%
60%
B+
6.4

A woman and her daughter leave Mexico for a better life in America, where they start working for a family whose patriarch is a newly-celebrated chef with an insecure wife.

Release Details

Original Release | Dec 17, 2004 | Wide

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Box Office Results

2026-09-20T11:29:28.837Z

Results

Opening Weekend US & Canada:
$8,817,853
Total US & Canada:
$42,726,869
Total International
$12,743,285
Total Worldwide:
$55,470,154

Current Showtimes

orround

Sun Sep 20
Mon Sep 21
Tue Sep 22
Wed Sep 23
Thu Sep 24
Fri Sep 25
Sat Sep 26

Director & Top Cast

James L. Brooks
Director

Adam Sandler
John Clasky

Téa Leoni
Deborah Clasky

Paz Vega
Flor

Cloris Leachman
Evelyn

Technical Specifications

Sound Mix: DTS,Dolby Digital,SDDS

Aspect Ratio: 1.85 : 1

Other Details

Country of Origin: United States

Language: English,Spanish

Summaries

Plot Summary

The film starts with Cristina Moreno applying to Princeton University. She tells the story of her childhood in her college essay.Flor Moreno (Paz Vega) is a poor, Mexican single mother who is hired as the housekeeper for John (Adam Sandler) and Deborah Clasky (Téa Leoni), their kids Bernice (Sarah Steele) and Georgie (Ian Hayland), and Deborah's alcoholic mother Evelyn Wright (Cloris Leachman), a rich American family in Los Angeles. John is head chef at a popular restaurant, Deborah is a former businesswoman turned stay-at-home mother, and Evelyn is a former jazz singer.Flor speaks very little English. She does not mention that she has a daughter, Cristina (Shelbie Bruce). John, Evelyn, Georgie and Bernice are very likeable; Deborah, however, is uptight, her behavior often upsetting both households.Summer comes and Flor is needed 24/7 at the Claskys' summer home. Unable to communicate well in English, Deborah finds a neighbor to interpret. Flor reveals that she is unable to maintain these hours because she has a daughter, so Cristina is invited to come stay with them.Cristina interprets for her mother. She impresses Deborah, who begins to treat her like a daughter, taking Cristina shopping, getting her hair done, enrolling her in a private school, and showing her more love than she does the sensitive Bernice.Flor becomes unhappy when it appears that Cristina is influenced by Deborah, in part because she wants Cristina to keep in touch with her Mexican roots and working-class values, and partly because Deborah is overstepping her bounds. Flor objects to Deborah's actions to John, who apologizes.Flor loses her temper when she finds out that John has given Cristina over $600 in cash for a minor task. She threatens to leave but John convinces her to stay for Cristina's sake.Flor begins to learn English so she can communicate better. She becomes closer to John, who is having difficulty with Deborah's self-centered behavior. The now-sober Evelyn realizes that her daughter is having an affair and that her marriage is in trouble. She pleads with Deborah to end the affair, telling her she'll never get another man as good as John.Deborah confesses to John that she cheated on him. John walks out and gives Flor a ride in his car. They go to his restaurant, where he cooks for Flor and they enjoy the "conversation of their lives," feeling love for one another.Flor quits and takes her daughter home, upsetting Cristina, who got along well with the Claskys. On their way home, she tells Cristina that she can't go to the private school anymore either, upsetting Cristina even more; she screams in the middle of the street that Flor can't do this to her and that her life is ruined. Flor loses patience with Cristina after she asks her mother for space. Flor explains to her daughter that she must answer the most important question of her life, at a very young age: "Is what you want for yourself to become someone very different than me?" Cristina considers this on their bus ride home, and they make up and embrace.The film ends with Cristina as an adult, years later, acknowledging that her life rests firmly and happily on the simple fact that she is her mother's daughter.

Storyline

Flor Moreno, a penniless single mother of one, emigrates from Mexico to Los Angeles from Mexico in high hopes of creating a better life for her 12-year-old daughter Cristina. However, after landing a job as a housekeeper for laid-back gourmet chef John Clasky and his well-to-do family, Flor finds herself up against a daunting language barrier--and Deborah, John's troubled wife. Little by little, as Flor struggles to start fresh, and of course, learn English, an inevitable cultural collision is at hand, and a burgeoning romantic affection starts to take over. Will John and Flor ever bridge the linguistic divide? — Nick Riganas Flor and her 12-year-old daughter immigrate from Mexico to Los Angeles to build a better life for themselves. She takes a job as a housekeeper for John and Deborah. But not everything goes exactly as Flor had imagined. The language is foreign, the culture is different, and her new employers are somehow unusual. Flor first has to get used to the eccentric lifestyle of the wealthy couple. While John enjoys great acclaim as a celebrity chef in California and is, on top of that, the perfect father and husband, Deborah struggles with the emptiness of being a wealthy housewife. At the same time, she introduces Flor to an extravagant lifestyle she's never experienced before. On top of that, Flor's daughter is going through a turbulent phase of puberty, keeping her constantly on her toes. This sets the stage for turbulent times in the lives of both families. — ZDF When a Mexican mother and her daughter come to the United States, the mother, Flor Moreno, gets a job as a maid at the home of successful chef John Clasky, his insecure wife Deborah, their two children, and Deborah's mother. Despite Flor's lack of an English vocabulary, she tries the best she can to assist the Clasky family in more than just housecleaning matters. When Flor is forced to live with the family over the summer, she has no choice but to bring her daughter Cristina along. Deborah, much to Flor's dislike, treats Flor's daughter much like her own and at the same time she hurts the feelings of her own daughter Bernice, as well as Flor. When John's dreams unravel, he begins to feel like his whole world is crashing down around him, but with the love of his children and the help of Flor, he finds himself trying to get through it all. Flor's daughter Cristina, through which this story is told in a college letter to Princeton University, serves as a translator for the beginning of the film, but after Flor crosses the communication bridge by learning to speak English, Cristina understands that things come and go in life, but family is the most important thing a person can have. — thexotherxchris

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