Excellent plot, actors and overall great acting. Marisa Tomei and Jamie Lee Curtis were excellent in their portrayal of inner city educators and George Lopez was great in his part as an engineering professor. PenaVega was truly excellent as the leading student seeking to enter the competition. This movie was a very real representation of the situation facing inner city kids in continuation schools today...I almost cried at the end. I loved it from the beginning and would watch it again and again. Very moving, inspiring and it has no profanity, no nudity, it is a great family movie that would make kids that don't have to go through, very thankful for the great opportunities they have. I give 5 stars and more if I could. Loved it from start to finish based on its great storyline, great actors--specially Marisa Tomei and Jamie Lee Curtis and PenaVega.

Very humbling, motivational and inspiring movie. So happy Underwater Dreams documentary was made into a movie with an amazing cast. If I could give it more stars I would!!! Great movie for everyone to watch. Cant wait to get the book.

In Spare Parts, 4 Hispanic high school students form a robotics club in an attempt to compete with some of the best engineering colleges in the country.

I didn’t know much about the movie prior to watching and was something my better half picked to watch. Although the story is a bit predictable and follows a familiar plot line, this is a classic underdog tale and most amazingly is based on a true story. Each student has their own backstory and each play their roles well with George Lopez playing a very surprisingly good serious role. The movie surprised me in the fact that it was better than I expected it to be. The movie was inspiring and worth watching.

4 stars

George Lopez is a teacher who cares. That type of story is nothing new but in "Spare Parts" he comes to care for a group of undocumented kids with a gift for robotics and no budget to enter into a contest - well that's new. Great supporting cast of Marisa Tomei and Jamie Lee Curtis help make it very human and quite touching.

I showed this to two of my community college classes because the theme of our course was "How to Succed." I had never even heard of it, but based on a recommendation from a friend and the good reviews I found online, I took a chance. The acting is generally very good (I was surprised at how good George Lopez is in a somewhat serious role) as is the mostly hip-hop soundtrack. Yes, a few parts of the script are a bit predictable, but that is more than compensated for by this amazing true-life story. This is a story which, if it hadn't really happened, you would have to say would be an impossible premise. Definitely watch it to the end so that you can see the photos of the real-life students who are depicted in the film and what has happened to them since the events shown. All of the students enjoyed this and found it inspiring.

This local story about one motivated high school student and one somewhat reluctant substitute teacher firing each other to assemble a disparate collection of inner city students with no money and no knowledge of robots who then, on a shoestring,create a project capable of competing with the likes of Virginia Tech AND MIT is a WINNER!!! Jamie Lee Curtis is a little over-the-top in her portrayal of the principal and I kept seeing Marissa Tomei in "My Cousin Vinny", but that in no way diminishes the believable (and true) story of these kids and their teacher. I feared "Spare Parts" would not be released commercially and am very grateful it has been!! If you like "underdog" stories, add this one to your collection...pronto!

The book is always better than the movie. Don't get me wrong, I loved the movie. But then I had to read the book to know the real life details. While the movie ends on an "up" note, real life has both ups and downs. Indeed, there is a lot more to the story of these young men. I think it should be required for everyone in the U.S. to read this book and/or something like it. There is such a negative outlook on immigrants, and particularly those who came to the U.S. illegally, but what about kids? They are brought here and it's the only life they know. Should they be expected to give up their life and move to a country that is strange to them when they turn 18? And, the portrayal of an immigrant is often negative, yet here is a group of young men who weren't out getting into trouble. They were sharpening their minds and becoming very promising engineers who could certainly contribute to our country. When I read this I can't help but think what a shame it is that public policy is so rigid and so negative that we, as a country, are missing out on great talent like these kids. And, these kids may miss out on a bright future for which they worked hard. It just doesn't seem like the American Dream. Read the story; it will definitely make you think, and hopefully, act.

As a graduate of Carl Hayden High School (of which this movie was based), I am proud to be a member of a fraternity of individuals that went on to develop more in Robotics and advanced science. I have become an inventor of robotic medical devices and I hold several patents and copyrights of devices that help stop suffering, and soften the edge of pain of those lives that are afflicted with many diseases and conditions, that can be corrected by the fruits of my creations. All of this was from the education and guidance I received from the teachers and staff of Carl Hayden High School in Phoenix, Az. There is no measure of how thankful I am of being a: Carl Hayden High School "Falcon"!