Sabor da Paixão

I saw "Woman on top" yesterday and I found it very nice. It's a very funny story set first in Bahia (Brazil) and then in San Francisco, when Isabella (Penelope Cruz) became a TV star in a TV program about food. Penelope Cruz is very good in the role but it would be better if the role of Isabella was given to a brazilian actress (like for example Giovanna Antonelli, who would be perfect for the role), because a Spanish actress, even if she is good, who plays a sensual brazilian cook do not sound such well. Murilo Benicio (Toninho), one of the best brazilian young actors, is very good, very funny and so handsome and sexy! The story is very colorful and the music is beautiful, with many brazilian bossa nova hits like "Aquarela do Brasil" and "Vocè". The idea of Isabella having a best friend who is a drag queen is very good and also the idea of the TV program about the passion in brazilian cooking is excellent (and it remembers the role of the sensual cook Dona Flora played by Sonia Braga in "Dona Flor and her two husbands" by Bruno Barreto). If you want to feel the passion, the color, the music of Brazil, you have to watch this movie, even if, I repeat again, a brazilian actress would be better for the main role. I give it a 7.

This is a fun film and has several things going for it. Firstly it is sexy without being vulgar, proving that comedy without vulgarity is feasible. Secondly it is easy on the eye (Penelope) and the ears (Latin Rhythms). Thirdly, it is a fairy tale, both in content and format and hence totally unbelievable. And like all fairy tales, this one too has a moral...which is for the viewers to discover. The best thing about the movie it its old world charms, which is so endearing. Though eminently forgettable once you are out of the cinema hall, while inside, it is worth every minute of yours.

Recommended to take along someone you love.

Isabella (Penelope Cruz) meets her soul mate in her native Brazil, marries him, and becomes the renowned chef at his restaurant. She suffers from motion sickness so she insists on driving the car, leading in a dance partnership and more. Husband Toninho (the handsome Murilo Benicio) tires of being second in command and develops the roving eye syndrome. Stunned by her husband's actions, Isabella flees Brazil and travels to San Francisco. Once there, she catches the eye of a television producer who helps her become a small-screen celebrity with her own cooking show. Out of the blue, ex-husband Toninho arrives and wants his wife back. What will she do?

Penelope Cruz shines in the leading role; she's drop dead gorgeous and gives an irresistible performance. Benicio, also, initiates flutters in the hearts of any female viewers with his charming persona. The movie has many humorous plot elements (a cross-dresser, catty television employees) that keep the plot interesting. Those seeking an entertaining movie with charm and chuckles will be delighted to happen upon this lesser known movie.

I've read some of the other comments on this film, and I'd agree with many of the criticisms. Yes, Hollywood. Yes, Foreign Film Lite. Yes, predictable plot. Yes, stereotypes here, there, everywhere. And it is not deep. This is a bit of a guilty pleasure, in my opinion. It's charming, with a fun, atmospheric soundtrack and some enjoyable performances. By the end of the movie I wanted to be dancing on a beach somewhere in Brazil. I'll forgive a lot of sins for a movie that makes me laugh reasonably often and has good visuals and music. If you like romance and fairy tales and fun and aren't in the mood for something penetrating or plausible, this would be a good one to check out. Penelope Cruz cannot help but be a movie star--she has a lot of charm in addition to her looks. Her husband character, Toninho, was very easy on the eyes. Their combined visual assault reminds me of the double-wattage Latin aesthetics of Catherine Zeta-Jones and Antonio Banderas in the Mask of Zorro--I enjoyed that film less than this one, actually. And her best friend, Monica the trannie, had a somewhat stereotypical gay supporting role, but was extremely funny--Harold Perrineau, Jr. made this his own.

Penelope Cruz as "Isabella" is the only actor of note in this very entertaining film I rate "7" of 10. From birth in Brazil she has suffered from motion sickness. The only way she can avoid it during "movement" activities is to be in control. So she drives the bike while the boy sits on the back. She takes the stairs instead of the elevator. The name of the film comes from where she has to be during sex to avoid getting sick. When she goes to S.F. she pays the cab driver extra to let her drive.

Isabella also developed a keen cooking ability, more like "fabulous" and just the scent of her food drives men crazy. She and her husband have a very successful restaurant where she cooks and he "entertains". She leaves Brazil and moves in with a friend in S.F. after she finds her husband cheating on her, after all he "has to be on top" occasionally. She has a voodoo lady cast a spell so she won't love her husband anymore. She gets discovered and has an immediate hit TV cooking show. The young producer tries hard for her hand but he really is too much of a nerd.

Her husband doesn't give up. He recognizes his "mistake" and follows her to S.F. and keeps trying until he makes amends, but she still has to reverse the spell to be able to love her husband again.

The film is very well done and both funny and genuinely entertaining. I cannot understand how so any viewers rated it anything under 5 or 6, which many did. My rating of "7" is a very solid one, similar in overall enjoyment to films like "Return to Me" or "Forces of Nature" or "Hope Floats". I saw it on DVD and the surround sound was used very effectively. The Latin flavor music throughout was also very nice.