Woman on Top (2000)

You won't be disappointed!

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

The acting in this movie is really good.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

Penelope Cruz looked the prettiest I have ever seen her. She kinda bugs me usually. In this one, she was more likable. I don't think I have actually seen her in anything lighter before like this. I do not think this movie was for American audiences. It felt like a Spanish movie. With the cheesy mystical touches and music. It was a little weird, but I liked it. The guy who played the husband was handsome and not bad. He can sing. The supporting cast was good. The story was as all Romcom's tend to be, totally unbelievable. She get's on TV in a day, and it feels like she has been there only a week when they move the story along, they did not make an effort to show any kind of time passing so it feels disjointed time wise. That is also one of the good things, the story moves along fast. It is like reading a light romance novel. You know what is going to happen, there are no surprises but you still enjoy it. I think it is worth a viewing. I watched it on Netflix..

This was her first American movie and it bottles up all her future career: The story is about a Latin girl coming to the states where she will find fame but it's only with her roots that she will find happiness and love. I don't know if Penelope had this insight of how personal this movie could be but it adds surely a great flavor, all the more than the movie is also a bit mystic(by the way, the divinity looks like the Starbucks icon!). Personally, I don't feel ties with Latin cultures (spanish or Brazilian) but as I'm a great fan of Penelope, I'm open to where she goes. It's great to hear her cute English accent and she was sweet playing a torn wife without aggressiveness. All the cast and production draws in the modern fairytale. In conclusion, not a masterpiece but a good recipe!

WOMAN ON TOP is one of those films that was made, publicized and viewed as pastiche and because of its honesty as a simple romantic comedy, it rates higher than many of the over the top and overproduced competitors. The film is colorful, filled with wonderful Bossa Nova music, and has enough eye candy to almost make you forget the main dishes! Isabella Oliveira (Penélope Cruz) lives in Bahia, Brazil totally in love with Toninho Oliveira (Murilo Benício) where the two have a restaurant featuring Isabella's passionate cooking and Toninho's macho front man role. Isabella has a problem: motion sickness - she cannot fly, ride in a car, or assume the bottom position during sex or she becomes violently ill (it seems that the sea goddess compensated her problem by making her an inimitable chef). All is well until Toninho has a brief affair that drives the crushed Isabella to move to San Francisco alone despite her love for Toninho. There she moves in with her old friend Monica from Bahia (Harold Perrineau as a superbly enacted crossed dressed drag queen) and begins her unsuccessful search for a job. In order to overcome her longing for Toninho and regain her culinary skills she makes a pact with the sea goddess, forsaking ever loving Toninho again. Eventually Isabella lands a TV show on Passionate Cooking when desperate producer Cliff (Mark Feuerstein) gets a whiff of her talent. She is an immediate success. Meanwhile Toninho, unable to endure life in Bahia without Isabella, flies to San Francisco and begins a series of Bossa Nova serenades to win her back. Cliff places Toninho on Isabella's show as background music and the ratings soar. But it is the ultimately the conflict resolution between Isabella and Toninho that brings the story to its expected end.The story may be light and the script may be pedestrian, but the direction and camera work suffuse this film with Latin American magical realism and that keeps it lighthearted and fun. Cruz is terrific, Perrineau is the true star of the show displaying a sophisticated and sensitive acting skill that is very special, and Murilo Benício is not only a hunk and eye candy but also a fine singer and a warm actor who deserves a lot of attention. Story five, stars six. Have fun with this one! Grady Harp, March 06

''Woman on Top'' is not a big movie. In fact, it's a little silly and easy to be guessed, although it has some nice elements to be showed. I am a Brazilian girl,so for me, it's nice to see a movie who tells a little bit about my country's story or traditions. But if you are a foreigner, please, do not think that all the cities of Brazil are like Bahia or have the same habits. Not everybody here practices Camdoblé as well. The best character of this movie got to be Harold Perrineau in the role of Monica: the guy had a complete transformation to be like a transvestite! And he has a great performance, I do need to say! Well, only brazillians who are going to watch this movie are going to see some famous faces around here, like Lazaro Ramos or Daniele Suzuki.