Woman on Top

Directed by Fina Torres, Woman on Top follows Penélope Cruz’s Isabella Oliveira as she flees her native Brazil after discovering her husband in bed with another woman – with the character, now in San Francisco, eventually establishing herself as a popular TV cooking-show host. Filmmaker Torres, working from Vera Blasi’s script, delivers an exceedingly lighthearted romantic comedy that never quite manages to achieve liftoff, although it’s hard to deny the effectiveness of certain elements within the briskly-paced production – with Cruz’s tremendously appealing work as the affable protagonist ranking high on the movie’s small list of above-average attributes. It’s clear, however, that Woman on Top‘s perpetual lack of substance grows more and more problematic as it progresses, and there’s little doubt, ultimately, that the pervasively innocuous atmosphere becomes somewhat oppressive (ie one begins to crave something, anything, of substance to occur). The upbeat finale is subsequently unable to make the cathartic, satisfying impact Torres is undoubtedly striving for, which does, in the end, cement Woman on Top‘s place as a sporadically entertaining yet instantly forgettable little romcom.

** out of ****

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