When rating a movie, I wish that after 7 we could choose 7.5, 8, 8.5, 9 etc. because while this movie may not be an 8 (it's realistic but the language is too realistic for my ears). Otherwise I would have definitely considered an 8. George Lopez is just highly underrated. He is very talented in whatever he endeavors to achieve. So many of us knows what it is like to be poor, struggling, without the ability to overcome the odds, visiting the world of the rich or driving by their world realizing we do not even know how they live. That is what makes this movie one to cheer for. The majority of us have to fight all our lives to continue onward on our own unique journeys. Thank you for not inserting the usual immoral sex and nudity that most other movies resort to. Muchas gracias Jorge!!!!

Earlier in 2015, we had the underrated, and criminally underseen, McFarland, USA, a Disney-branded sports drama about a group of Latino cross-country runners that became national headline-makers following their accomplishments in a state-wide competition. The film starred Kevin Costner and, despite its Disney namesake, was a truly inspirational and well-done film that emphasized humanity and cultural significance above everything else, in turn, producing a film that was aware of its minority characters as people and not just minorities.Sean McNamara's far less-seen, and much less-discussed, Spare Parts, which came out a full month before McFarland, USA, proves what happens when humanity and cultural significance is discarded in favor of telling a feel-good story audiences can see without having what they love and cherish being challenged every day. The film tells the story of Carl Heyden High School, an underprivileged, predominately Latino high school, which went on to beat M.I.T. in the 2004 underwater national robotics competition.The film revolves around Fredi Cameron (George Lopez), an engineer who decides to take a substitute position at Carl Heyden High School and subsequently start an engineering club he feels no student in their right mind would join. Much to the disbelief of himself and the school's principal (Jamie Lee Curtis), Oscar Vazquez (Carlos PenaVega), a U.S. Army hopeful, shows interest in his club and decides to join it and help promote underwater robotics engineering as the club's central focus. The club would be focused around constructing, perfecting, and entering a robot built for underwater endurance tests to compete against some of the top technological schools in the country.In an act of desperation, Fredi finds kids like the optimistic Cristian (David Del Rio), the troublemaker Lorenzo (José Julián), and the oversized outcast Luis (Oscar Gutierrez) to join his underwater robotics club in efforts to solidify its chances in a national competition. With that, the group must overcome tough financial barriers that other schools can easily bypass in efforts to prove themselves as worthy competitors, in addition to gaining the approval and support of family members, who view their extra-curricular endeavor as nothing more than a distraction from real work.McFarland, USA was a noteworthy film because it showed Kevin Costner's Jim White character actually getting involved with the lives of his runners in order to understand their homelives. White realizes that while he complained about having his own problems, he didn't have to wake up hours before school every morning to work hunched over in a field, harvesting food in order to assure a complete meal that same day. Lopez's Fredi character doesn't experience the same immersion, and if he does, it's flawed because Fredi has already lived the lives many of his students are currently living. He has nothing really to learn upon reluctantly starting the club. The only time he tries to become involved with the lives of his students is when he goes over to Lorenzo's home to confront his father - after getting drunk off of tequila, nonetheless - about forcing Lorenzo, an illegal immigrant like most of his family, to take the blame for the actions of his little brother, who has citizenship, in order to keep his record clean. As expected, this scene is more confrontational than anything else and simply allows us to see how Fredi can overstep his boundaries every now and then.But because this family angle is lacking, most of the boys, who are wickedly intelligent and crafty when it comes to designing a robot and working out the bugs and inevitable tribulations with little to no help from Fredi, and their families just seem like vapid caricatures with vague development. Furthermore, Spare Parts lacks those crowdpleasing moments that McFarland, USA had punctuated in very frequently, not for cheap dramatic effect, but to showcase constant progress on the boys' behalf. Those moments transition to back-patting moments when they should be electric, given how much these kids achieve with how little they have.As stated, it's tough reviewing Spare Parts, which, again, came out first in the United States, when you're constantly comparing it to another, better film that came out a month later. But even if McFarland, USA didn't come out at all in 2015, it doesn't excuse the painful adequacy that is Spare Parts, a fine, but ultimately forgettable, story that shows that a lack of privilege doesn't give you a lack of creative options in a way that doesn't humanize nor seem captivated by its characters enough to explore them as human beings.Starring: George Lopez, Carlos PenaVega, David Del Rio, José Julián, Oscar Gutierrez, and Jamie Lee Curtis. Directed by: Sean McNamara.

Watched this on DVD from my public library. This is about a few kids and a teacher in an Albuquerque high school deciding they would build an underwater robot to compete in a national contest. The central character and catalyst is Carlos PenaVega as Oscar Vazquez, a dedicated and polite young man who plans to join the Army and based on his prior ROTC experience hopes to start as an E3. But Carlos has an issue, he needs a birth certificate. He came to the US as an illegal when he was a very small boy and was undocumented. But Carlos learns about the robotic competition and makes the request to new substitute math teacher, George Lopez as out-of-work engineer Dr. Fredi Cameron. (This character is a composite of two teachers that actually guided the kids.) Reluctant, because he didn't envision that it could lead anywhere, he gave in when Carlos found three other students for the team.The community is not a wealthy one and part of the challenge was to raise money for building the remotely controlled robotic sub. They ultimately built it for just under $800 of parts, while many of the teams they would be competing against spent thousands.This is a very nice movie, it has the inevitable feel-good ending, but is gratifying since it is a true story. Of note after all this Carlos voluntarily gave himself up, was deported, but returned legally, served in the military, and was brought to the White House for special recognition.SPOILERS: When the team traveled to California for the competition and saw the line for the college competition was shorter they actually entered that competition because they didn't think it mattered. If they were to lose badly wouldn't it be better to lose to college teams? But their little PVC pipe and spare parts sub worked, and each team member explained it so well in the after competition interviews that counted for 30% of the overall score, they finished 1st, the beat the old champions MIT and other colleges. True story!!

Strange how these sort of "feel good" films -- based on actual events -- used to be more commonplace... and now have somehow become an endangered species..? SPARE PARTS is a serious film. By that I mean they used name stars and gave the film a full 2 hour running length. (Lately you can tell more about a film by the length than any other statistic -- the ones that clock in at exactly 1:25 are usually done on the cheap, intended to be sold to TV right away).It might not win any Oscars but it is solid entertainment with no hiccoughs or offbeat moments.For this reviewer, the oddest thing was identifying the "glue." In every story there is a character that the audience comes to identify with, and the actions of this key character often set the tone for how the audience will respond to the whole story.What was interesting here is that the "glue" was Marisa Tomei, who is both the conscience and the heart of the film -- yet she does not have as much camera time as some of the other characters. She does an outstanding job of grounding the story, from beginning to end.Highly recommended.