Woman on Top

It's something of a disappointment that this frothy romantic comedy is riddled with soap opera clichés about Latin America. From the Technicolor holiday brochure scene-setting to the salsa-lite soundtrack and the sparkly bits of coy magical realism, it's about as authentically Latin as Doritos. The freakishly beautiful Cruz stars as Isabella, a sultry Brazilian babe whose traffic-stopping looks come with a curse: she's plagued by chronic motion sickness. To overcome this affliction, she must always be in the driver's seat, a situation that eventually tries her husband's macho ego to breaking point. After discovering him with another woman, Isabella sets off for a new life in San Francisco with friend Monica, a lurid transvestite. Within weeks, she's the star of her own live TV cooking show. Desperate to win her back, the errant husband follows her to the States, and effectively begins stalking her with a small samba band in tow. It's a sweet-natured film with some charming and gently funny moments, but ultimately pretty insipid.