Spanglish (PG-13, 2004)

*Spoilers* I love the way that this movie mixes Spanish and English and how Flor struggles to learn English once it becomes necessary to know the language in order to protect her daughter. In addition, I just love the scenes where Flor uses a mail-order language program to learn English. It is especially hilarious when all the English-speaking family members are sitting with Flor and they are all repeating the English vocabulary words with her. If you have ever tried to master a foreign language, this movie is a must-see. Flor is also a very engaging character, and it is admirable the way that she always puts her daughter first in her life and choices. I also love the ending, where Flor decides that although she loves Adam Sandler's character, she isn't going to come between him and his wife. The ending is NOT your typical romantic comedy happy ending, and I appreciate that. It's a great lesson that Flor puts her daughter first and doesn't just decide to run away with Sandler. This is a great moral message and counter to almost every movie put out by Hollywood. Yes, the movie is confusing and hard to follow at points. Yes, the sex scene between Sandler and his wife is not really appropriate for children and quite odd to boot. But, that part totally went over the head of the younger child that I watched this with. Well worth watching, but not a perfect movie.