Spanglish
Writer/director James L. Brooks' warm-hearted comedy revolves around the culture clashes spawned when an L.A. family (headed by Adam Sandler and Tea Leoni) take in a Mexican maid (Paz Vega) and her daughter. As he's done for previous collaborations with Brooks onAs Good As It GetsandI'll Do Anything, composer Hans Zimmer conjures up a smartly effervescent musical score that stands in stark contrast to the McAction film bombast that has too often made his reputation. His light-hearted, sometimes bittersweet orchestral score tips its cross-cultural concerns from the opening bars of the title track, which sets the delicate flourishes of a solo flamenco guitar against the starched rhythms of a chamber string ensemble. Guitarist and longtime Zimmer collaborator Heitor Pereira furthers that gambit with his self-written "John Comes Home," a delightful cue that cross-pollinates the waltz and tango with deceptive breeziness. Co-stars Cloris Leachman and Ian Hyland close the inviting soundtrack out with a spirited rendition of Gershwin's "They Can't Take Away From Me."--Jerry McCulley