For any spoiled, rich, WASPY Connecticut housewife, who thinks life’s biggest dilemma is missing her morning run, this movie has one purpose: To teach you the 101 on what matters (love) and what doesn’t (material) in order to keep your husband. James L. Brooks follows up his hit “As Good As It Gets” with this tale of two women hardly able to move under the same roof. A beautiful Latino woman (Paz Vega) takes a housekeeping job in the insane spoiled-wife-household of Tea Leoni, a tight-wound woman whose sweet understanding husband (Adam Sandler) is something Vega’s culture doesn’t get. She’s used to macho men, not “feminine” ones whom she mistakes for his sincerity. And then there’s Cloris Leachman, the family grandmother who steals the movie with her old wisdom concealed in a bottle of vodka. While there is a certain cultural divide, it soon becomes evident that these women who speak different languages, can sometimes work unspoken miracles. But when Vega’s character learns English, suddenly the movie becomes too talky, having to analyze and unravel every emotional issue. The movies biggest flaw is Leoni. While we are supposed to bond with the Latino woman, Leoni’s character is never likable and here’s why: Much of the audience will be women since this story screams chick flick. One in every two women in America is divorced, so that means they struggle to pay bills, work double jobs and run a household. This makes the middle class viewer feel little sympathy for a woman (Leoni) who spends all her screen time whining, unappreciative of her charmed and fortunate life. On the other hand, Sandler is very likable and proves he can work the range of goofball comedy to drama.
