George Lopez, Jamie Lee Curtis and Marisa Tomei all come together to play public-school educators based on an inspirational true story.
Spare Parts is about an underdog team of Arizona high-school inventors, all undocumented Mexican Americans. The theme is very heavy about immigration and encouragement and sometimes overwhelms what the movie is all about. Above all it’s about these kids overcoming something and getting into the big leagues of an underwater robotics competition.
There are some big hitters in the movie with George Lopez, Jamie Lee Curtis and Marisa Tomei, but it’s the unknowns that steal the show.
The movie is based on a 2004 Wired article by Joshua Davis. The story centers on Carl Hayden Community High School where half the students are undocumented. The kids join forces in a very unlikely project building an underwater robot with the guidance of their substitute teacher (George Lopez).
George Lopez’s performance is like one you have never seen. His character never stays in one place a long time. He soon finds his place at the school with these students. George Lopez is gentle, inspiring.
Carlos Pena Vega plays a ROTC cadet who wants to live the American dream. He sets his nights on the NASA-sponsored robotics contest after the Army turns him away. He is joined by Cristian (David del Rio), larcenous mechanical genius Lorenzo (Jose Julian, of A Better Life) and the big guy on campus Luis (newcomer Oscar Gutierrez).
It takes this group everything to get what they need to build their robot. For most schools it costs them thousands of dollars to put their robot together, for Carl Hayden they had a budget of $800. They use whatever parts they can to build their machine.
Even though I knew the story and the ending of the movie it was an amazing story. Spare Parts was heartbreaking at times. These kids always had to watch their backs thinking they would be taken away by immigration. If it wasn’t one thing it was another getting in their way. The key thing was that nothing was going to stop them in the long haul.
I didn’t expect much from the movie but it was funny, heartwarming and inspiring. These students went above and beyond to make the unimaginable happen.
If you’re looking for something inspirational and just a feel good movie go to see it. It’s amazing what these students were able to do and set the stage for more at their school.
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