Spanglish
Columbia Pictures | Release Date: December 17, 2004 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
48
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 36 Critic Reviews
Positive:
15
Mixed:
14
Negative:
7
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
88
Boston GlobeWesley Morris
What he's (Brooks) come up with is one of the most humane works ever made about the lives of working mothers. Read full review
88
Rolling StonePeter Travers
A rich blend of humor and heartbreak. Read full review
88
Philadelphia InquirerCarrie Rickey
A pepperpot bubbling with pungent insights and sharp wit, Spanglish is about how people, like cultures, are more alike than not. Read full review
88
USA TodayMike Clark
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. Read full review
80
EmpireIan Freer
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. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterKirk Honeycutt
Brooks is solidly in charge of this feel-good fairy tale as he gets terrific performances from everyone including two super-talented child actors. Read full review
80
Washington PostDesson Thomson
Above all, the movie's funny and wicked fun. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
The movie is not quite the sitcom the setup seems to suggest; there are some character quirks that make it intriguing. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
trong on characters and relationships, but weak on some of the details that would elevate it from merely "good" to "great." Read full review
75
PremierePeter Debruge
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. Read full review
70
The A.V. ClubScott Tobias
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. Read full review
67
Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam Arnold
Much of it is funny and endearing, and its toned-down star, Adam Sandler, is as winning as he's ever been. Read full review
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Rick Groen
There's a wonderfully subversive film buried somewhere in Spanglish, but it's never allowed to get out. Read full review
63
New York Daily NewsJack Mathews
An unusually shallow and facile work for Brooks, but the writing and the performances - other than Leoni's - keep us at least halfway involved.
63
Miami HeraldRene Rodriguez
The message in Spanglish is thoughtful and astute; it's the delivery that could use some work. Read full review
60
TV Guide MagazineAngel Cohn
Surprisingly heartfelt tale. Read full review
60
NewsweekDavid Ansen
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. Read full review
60
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
Frustrating though it can be, Spanglish still proves to be as resilient as its characters. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleCarla Meyer
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. Read full review
50
Portland OregonianBarry Johnson
Could have had charm if the characters had been more recognizable as human beings.
50
Chicago TribuneAllison Benedikt
Only resonates when he (Brooks) strips it all away and focuses on parent and child. Read full review
50
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
Ultimately more exasperating than rewarding. Read full review
50
New York PostLou Lumenick
Whatever message Brooks was trying to put across with Spanglish, it clearly got lost in translaaaaaaaaaaation. Read full review
50
Chicago ReaderJonathan Rosenbaum
Brooks has an uncanny talent for making us feel insightful. Read full review
40
VarietyTodd McCarthy
Short on real drama and incident and long on tedium. Read full review
40
Village VoiceDennis Lim
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. Read full review
40
Dallas ObserverRobert Wilonsky
Never quite works, despite the wonderful performances or the decency in the screenplay's margins. Read full review
40
The New York TimesDana Stevens
Mr. Sandler has a solid, fumbling likability, without which Spanglish would be not merely annoying but despicable in its slick complacency. Read full review
40
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
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.
38
Baltimore SunMichael Sragow
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. Read full review
30
SalonCharles Taylor
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. Read full review
30
Washington PostStephen Hunter
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. Read full review
30
The New YorkerDavid Denby
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. Read full review
30
Austin ChronicleMarjorie Baumgarten
It's unclear what Brooks is trying to say about our melting-pot culture, if anything. Read full review
25
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
This is a deeply unpleasant movie masquerading as a heartfelt social commentary on life in these United States. Read full review
20
L.A. Weekly
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. Read full review
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