Respond to these rapid questions in our Spare Parts quiz and we will tell you which Spare Parts character you are. Play it now.
“Spare Parts” makes an attempt to update “To Sir With Love,” but with a lot more science and a lot less Lulu.
I adore Lulu and will always treasure that 1967 cinematically modern time capsule. However, at least this most recent example of the value of education has more on its mind than, say, dancing to groovy pop tunes. In addition, movies like “Interstellar,” “The Theory of Everything,” and “The Imitation Game” demonstrate how popular science is right now.
It really helps that the movie’s actor, producer, and Sidney Poitier stand-alike, the exceedingly likeable George Lopez, wears his heart on his sleeve throughout this true-life underdog tale as a PhD-toting engineer forced to fill in as a science instructor. Lopez’s Fredi Cameron unintentionally develops into more than just a temporary instructor to the four Hispanic teenagers who defied the odds and defeated college-age teams from MIT, Cornell, and Virginia Tech to win a national robotics competition, just as Poitier ultimately served as a mentor and father figure to his Cockney charges.
The fact that these Mexican-born students at the tiny working-class high school in Arizona are all undocumented immigrants and constantly live in fear of being deported, however, genuinely distinguishes “Spare Parts” from being just a glorified after-school special. And their prospects of realizing their aspirations are significantly restricted without a birth certificate or other kind of identification showing their citizenship.
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The topic of so-called “illegals” is one that is urgently needed, and if “Spare Parts” does anything, it is to strive to humanize the predicament of those youngsters who manage this life in limbo without much of a choice.
In spite of his best efforts, filmmaker Sean McNamara (who also produced the faith-based biopic “Soul Surfer”) focuses far too much time on the forced household tragedies and personal struggles that each of the four students must endure rather than enough time on developing their personalities. The actual competition that acts as the conclusion, which ought to have been the primary event, actually comes almost as an afterthought. Even Lopez’s character ends up having a heartbreaking explanation for why he is in the circumstance he is in, but it just gets lost in the chaos.
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The chemistry between Lopez and the young actors should take center stage because each of them has a unique charm that isn’t fully exploited. Carlos PenaVega’s Oscar, a motivated senior whose unauthorized status prevents him from pursuing his desire of joining the Army, leaves the biggest effect. He instead approaches to Lopez and requests that a robotics club be established so that he can participate in the competition, which involves creating an underwater vehicle.
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Luis (newcomer Oscar Guitirrez), a gentle giant who provides the muscles to carry the vehicle in and out of the water, Cristian (David del Rio of “Pitch Perfect”), a bullied computer geek who is the brains of the operation, and Lorenzo (Jose Julian, Demian Bichir’s son in “A Better Life”), a shaggy-haired mechanical whiz who isn’t above breaking into vehicles from time to
Since Lopez must have a love interest, Marisa Tomei, who is starring in her second movie this week in addition to “Loitering With Intent,” steps in as a sympathetic coworker teacher who helps with some of the programming details related to the robotics project. She is a single mother, as you might expect, and has a spunky grade-school-aged daughter who gives Lopez the side-eye. We’re going to have a coding lesson, he says hastily. Not even a euphemism, that.
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Jamie Lee Curtis, who plays the school’s unconventional principal, is also on board. She is similar to Eve Arden’s principal in “Grease” in that she announces on the PA system that there will be an anger management club that is required “for the especially angry” and that she will come up with unconventional solutions to disciplinary issues. And even though he is forced to play Lorenzo’s eternally grumpy father, Esai Morales of “La Bamba” fame still looks dashing as ever.
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However, “Spare Parts” ends up being more draining than motivating. No A for effort, only a passing grade for at least making an effort to bring attention to a persistent issue that affects the immigrant community.
For more personality quizzes check this: Prem Ratan Dhan Payo Quiz.
