Spare Parts

Director: Sean McNamara

Writers: Joshua Davis, Elissa Matsueda

Stars: George Lopez, Jamie Lee Curtis, Carlos PenaVega

“Four Hispanic high school students form a robotics club under the leadership of their school's newest teacher, Fredi. With no experience, 800 bucks, used car parts and a dream, this rag tag team goes up against the country's reigning robotics champion, MIT. On their journey, they learn not only how to build a robot- they learn to build a bond that will last a lifetime.”

Synopsis:

We all like to watch movies that inspire us, some in materialistic way and some in more thoughtful way to trigger the creativity in all of us. Spare Parts come along in the latter category. A movie that documents the reality of day to day struggles, bottlenecks and insecurities that students follow in their regular life, and still want to achieve the One Big Thing in their lives.

This film centres on four Hispanic high school students who were made famous by a "Wired" magazine article after they entered a national underwater robotics competition against major colleges and did better than anyone expected. These four teenage boys each bring something vital to the table. There's the robotics enthusiast – and group leader – Oscar (Carlos PenaVega), the computer genius, Christian (David Del Rio), the mechanics expert, Lorenzo (José Julián) and Luis (Oscar Gutierrez), the strong but silent type whose brawn is needed to lift the robot out of the water at the competition, but ends up contributing more than just his muscles to the team. Each of these young men is being caught up from making something of himself by serious problems in his personal life. On top of it, all of them share a common problem – they are undocumented residents of the United States, brought here as young children by their parents.

In addition to each team member's personal issues, there are interpersonal issues between some of them, which required some strong people to get these guys to mend with each other and work together, and achieve that something special, despite their personal challenges. Here enters a great team of teachers including a caring but tough Principal, for inspiring them to fulfil their dream. With the talent, the desire and the support, the team does their best to work through their individual issues, get past their personal differences, and become a team that can raise the money to build their robot and hold their own in the competition.

"Spare Parts" could have easily been an indifferent underdog story, but it becomes something both broader and deeper than one might expect. Exploring each character’s individual challenges, one might get the sense of who these people are; and one is most likely end up identifying with one or the other. This is an interesting, thought-provoking and heart-touching movie, which may cause a tear or two, but definitely won’t disappoint the audience.

Cast:

	Alexa PenaVega	...	Karla
	Jamie Lee Curtis	...	Principal
	Carlos PenaVega	...	Oscar Vazquez
	George Lopez	...	Fredi Cameron