Spare Parts Reviews

If you are wondering this is a B movie, I would say yes, but no. Because I have seen some of this director's movies and he gives the best in this category. Not so popular, small budget, low production quality, all these does not mean not worth a watch. In fact, this film somehow got two most recognisable faces, Marisa Tomei and Jamie Lee Curtis in the supporting roles. And not to forget George Lopez was better than these two who appeared in a prominent role.

This film was based on the true story of the robotics club of the community high school from Phoenix, who went to participate in the national underwater robotics competition. That was the year 2004, four unlikely, undocumented Mexican immigrant students came together for a project that meant for university level teams. The rest of the story tells their journey from nothing to something.

A very inspirational movie, just like 'October Sky'. But in the beginning I was quite not sure, because of the production quality. Then realised that the issue was something else. The film talks mostly about immigrants, due to the majority of characters Mexicans, I felt like watching non-American movie, thus it did not look like a regular Hollywood brand. It comes under the category of 'Life of Pi', 'Memoirs of Geisha' et cetera, where it demands the new faces but still a very much Hollywood.

You know these kids who had no experience, built a water robot from the scraped and cheapest spare parts which cost only under $800 and competing with reigning champion like MIT is like ISRO against NASA. Because ISRO sent a low cost rocket to Mars at a very first attempt where many giant countries in the space program had failed to do. And won 2015's space pioneer award, which was very much similar to this movie. So this film is just like a school version of that and an example for nothing is impossible if you put your effort with a right mindset.

The first rule of engineering is...
you never build anything with real material...
until you build a proof-of-concept model.

Not the whole narration is about the robot, but it is the center and awesomely constructed stories of all the characters that connects to it. Since the kids are illegally staying, their's each tale about the struggles in the society as well as in the family was emotionally told. Individually, they are nothing than a thief, a prey to the bully, a prey for the domestic violence and an ordinary fat kid. But their talents in the various fields brought them together by a teacher. As a team they achieve something more than a miracle.

A movie like this must be shown to students in the schools to motivate their interests. A car thief and a mechanical engineer have the same knowledge, but the difference is one is educated and the other one is illiterate or the school dropout. If the talents are utilised well in a childhood itself, the future will always be brighter. I think every school need to appoint a teacher whose work is to interact with students to find their gifts and to show the right path.

In this movie, the timing of those four students and the new teacher was absolutely perfect. And so they saw the life changing moment. It does not happen like that in everyone's life, so sometimes it should be the parents. If both, teachers and parents fail, that's the trouble for that kid as well as the society. This film is not the most popular one, that's the most disappointment. Just don't ignore it, it is a definitely a must see by all the age, because inspiration is not just for the youngsters.

8.5/10

Initial Thought: I saw the trailer for this quite awhile back. Then it was at a festival in the theater I work at. Finally I have the chance to check it out. It seems to be a different kind of inspirational movie than the sports ones I watched lately.

Characters/Acting: This time George Lopez takes on the role as the teacher who wants to make an interesting difference. We are also accompanied by some other great actors including Marisa Tomei, Alexa Vega, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Esai Morales. The acting here is just incredible especially from the lesser known actors. All the characters were great and unique.

Story: A new teacher takes on a robotics club with a small group of students. They then have to rise up to the challenge albeit having no prior experience. It does seem to take quite a different approach to the usual inspirational film. Wow this movie really takes a toll on your emotions. So many sides stories that happen here are just heartbreaking. The ending was quite good and kind of makes you chuckle.

Directing/Writing: Apparently this is based on an article (of all things) written by Joshua Davis. This is Elissa Matsueda's only credited written work so far. Sean McNamara usually directs movies aimed at young women like Soul Surfer, Raise Your Voice, and Bratz. Two of which I admit to seeing because I don't care. It's nice to see him changing it up a bit.

Final Thought: It was quite different than your typical inspirational film. It kind of made me think of my wife and how she can't get here until the government approves her. It's so hard being away from her so I really connect with some of these characters. To think this was all based off of a magazine article is an interesting thing to make a true story from. I suggest checking this one out.