Review of Spare Parts (2015) by Greg B — 18 Jan 2015

"Spare Parts" is a limited release movie starring George Lopez as a substitute science teacher who sponsors a group of indigent Hispanic high school students who want to enter a nationwide underwater robotics competition.

Lopez cultivates an identity for himself by being the mentor for these wayward youths and actually finds purpose in his somewhat vapid life. With the help of a fellow teacher (Marisa Tomei), Lopez helps the students engineer a robot that will be able to perform a variety of tasks underwater to win the challenge.

I did find the film inspiring and heartfelt, but at the same time it was excessively paint-by-numbers and overly reverential of its source material. It did take a very standard, derivative approach that other underdog, coming of age movies take.

This did not make the movie bad; just indistinguishable in some ways from other zero to hero tales. On a positive note, the movie has several riveting scenes and actually presents pretty wholesome subject matter.

It is also an informative movie, and it is neat how these four teenagers are able to pool their thoughts together and use their various skills to make a functional robot from basically everyday objects.

It proves that you don't need a big bankroll to pursue your dreams in life; just a sense of ingenuity and purposefulness ---------------------------------------------------------- B.