Adam Sandler plays John Clasky, a nice-guy husband, who owns an acclaimed California restaurant. But he is married to Deborah, an insensitive, self-absorbed pain of a wife who doesn’t appreciate his qualities. She’s played by Téa Leoni, who makes her most unsympathetic, as well she should, given the way the character is written. One feels sorry for John.

Into this household comes a newly-hired Mexican maid Flor, who is in the country illegally with her young daughter Christina (Shelbie Bruce). Deborah is smitten by the child, and although she means to be giving, she is a bundle of condescension. She has no idea that the mother would want to keep control over her daughter, and she proceeds to take over as if she were the mother when the housekeeper and her daughter move into the Malibu summer residence. Flor begins to seethe with resentment, but she needs the job. Her paucity of English is an added complication.

Paz Vega is dazzling as Flor. For one thing, she is beautiful, but she also projects a sympathetic demeanor and intelligence. Flor and John strike a bond of understanding, which creates sexual tension. They are quietly falling in love, although both judge the situation as impossible and strain not to let anything happen. Meanwhile, Flor is having a crisis with Christina, who has been seduced by the advantages Deborah arranges for her, including the opportunity for top-line education. Flor has the unenviable job of dealing with keeping her daughter on a track that doesn’t lead to her abandoning her cultural heritage.

Deborah’s mother, played colorfully by Cloris Leachman, is a hovering presence. She has been an alcoholic and sexually free, and when she sees her daughter’s marriage in peril, she has some harsh truths to impart to Deborah.

If all of this seems interesting, it is. The trouble is that so much is packed into the story and so much has to be resolved, that one may feel like saying, “Enough already.” Also, Sandler is not the best casting choice for the role of John. He’s better than he usually is, but it is still difficult to take him seriously. The obnoxiousness of Deborah makes it impossible to care for what happens to her or the marriage. It would make more sense for John and Flor to just run off together, but the screenplay spends much effort trying to avoid such a resolution.