Grade: B-

Verdict: Some of this overly cluttered culture-clash comedy gets lost in translation, but much of it is infused with Brooks' trademark intelligence and insight.

By ELEANOR RINGEL GILLESPIE
Cox News Service

The entire time I was watching James L. Brooks' new movie, "Spanglish," I kept thinking about poor Penélope Cruz. Her career might've gone in a totally different direction if Brooks had offered her this picture when she first arrived in Hollywood several years ago.

Instead, the "Cruz" role has gone to the infinitely charming and lovely Paz Vega, who stars as Flor, a smart, kind, virtuous and altogether yummy young Mexican woman who gets a taste of the American pie (caviar, in this case) when she's hired as a housekeeper by John and Deborah Clasky (Adam Sandler and Téa Leoni).

John is a loving, supportive father and the sort of celebrity chef who'd rather get 3 1/2 stars from The New York Times' critic than four. He doesn't want the pressure of perfection. Nor does he want customers who measure everything in their lives by star ratings. In others words, he's a very nice man -- a mensch, much like Albert Brooks in the director's earlier "Broadcast News" -- and Sandler makes a good one.

Deborah is almost his exact opposite -- one of those neurotic, self-loathing wealthy Angelenos who fixate on their abs instead of their kids. Deborah is the kind of mother who buys clothes a size too small for her bright, chubby daughter, Bernice (Sarah Steele), as a way to "encourage" her to lose weight. She so desperately craves validation that she apologizes for the way her hair blows in a convertible and, during their interview, assures Flor, "We're all about first names and closeness here."

A little too much closeness, it turns out. When the Claskys move to a Malibu beach rental for the summer, Deborah insists Flor come along as live-in help. And she can bring her 12-year-daughter, Cristina (Shelbie Bruce), who turns out to be the beauty Deborah wishes Bernice to be.

Culture clashes ensue, as well as perilous flirtations, mother-daughter tensions on both sides and a dependable stream of funny one-liners from Deborah's alcoholic mother (Cloris Leachman), who was once a famous jazz singer (only in a Brooks movie would a grandma have a back story like that).

It's a long way from the barrio to Bel Air, Brooks is telling us. And he doesn't just mean the bus ride. Flor worries that the temptations offered by the Clasky lifestyle will alienate Christina from her roots. On a different level, Flor and John are drawn together as they discover things about their differing cultures; he's used to needy and high-strung women like his wife, while she was brought up to expect strutting machismo from all men.

Unfortunately, Brooks often undermines himself by presenting us with so many diverse and interesting characters. No one story seems fully realized. As a result, the ending feels diffuse and incomplete.

Further, though Brooks is renowned for his complex, unexpected characters ("As Good As It Gets," "Terms of Endearment"), the two women here occasionally veer toward stereotypes. As the impossibly perfect Latina, Flor comes awfully close to an updated version of the Noble Savage. Conversely, Deborah is an amalgam of all that's wrong with rich, self-absorbed American females with too much time on their hands — though Leoni's acute comic timing makes her more likable than she's written.

Brooks' résumé is so strong (he also produced "The Mary Tyler Moore Show," "The Simpsons," "Jerry Maguire" and "Big," among many others ), we routinely expect perfection from him. "Spanglish" isn't his best work, but it's infused with humor and humanity. And how many films offer either one?