Woman on Top
by Fina Torres
List Price:
Our Price: $3.47
You Save: $6.51 (65%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $1.05 (click here)
Category: DVD
See more DVD details
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
DVD details
Actor: Harold Perrineau, John de Lancie, Mark Feuerstein, Murilo BenÃcio, Penélope CruzDirector: Fina Torres
Brand: TCFHE
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 5.1; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1; French (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround; Spanish (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 92 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2003-04-15
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: 20th Century Fox
DVD Reviews of Woman on Top
DVD Review: Hot, Sizzling Chef on "Top" in Every Way
Summary: 4 Stars
Penelope Cruz sizzles in her role as Isabella, a charming and seductive chef in a small Brazilian seaside resort called Bahia. She marries Toninho Oliveira (played by Murilo Benecio) who is a initially a waiter and later the owner of the restaurant where she wows the customers with her spicey and delicious original meals. They marry and are ecstatically happy, except there is one issue which complicates their life: Isabella suffers from motion sickness. Unfortunately, her husband Toninho makes one *fatal* mistake due to his frustration based on this issue. When Isabella discovers Toninho's fatal mistake, Isabella chooses to embark on a journey. First, she pays homage to the goddess of the sea in Bahia before leaving on her trip to the USA. She had received many offers of jobs as a chef in the USA and chose to try out her luck in San Francsico ...
There, Isabella looks up her childhood friend, Monica, who lives an alternate lifestyle which provides some comical scenes in the film. Other interesting features are the flashbacks to their childhood when Isabella first developed her cooking skills and discovered her talent. In San Francisco, Isabella loses out on a fantastic opportunity to work in 5 star restaurant but amazingly this loss turns out to be a major advantage. She becomes the favorite chef at a cooking school and is discovered by a young television producer. He is enticed not only by Isabella's beauty but also by her delicious food. He sells the network on creating a cooking program where Isabella is the star ... naturally she is an instant success.
Meanwhile, Toninho is very lonely in Bahia. He is remorseful for his past behavior and makes some offerings to the goddess of the sea with the hope of reuniting with his wife. He flies to San Francisco and discovers that on a hugely popular TV cooking program , his wife is the main hot and spicey dish on display. He pursues her with highly creative efforts but she resists. In one nearly successful attempt to win her back, he provides the back up music for her cooking program. As executives often do, just when everything is going extremely well, they make some inane decision, in this case it is to change Isabella's television persona for the worse. The film is worth viewing to see the extreme and extraordinary results which alter her program - all with the goal of appealing to a broader spectrum of the audience.
This is quite an entertaining adventure where a major dilemma is resolved. One of the reasons the film is so effective is that Cliff, the local TV producer becomes a rival for Isabella's affections, just when Toninho is doing everything in his power to win back his wife for himself. This film is pure fantasy and pure entertainment. It is a pleasure to watch Penelope Cruz who sparkles in her role. Murilo Benicio is also a joy to view but his character is less well developed which is unusual given his popularity in Brazil and his highly skilled acting ability. Mark Feurerstein plays a believable TV producer. Harrold Perrineau, Jr is an amusing cross-dressing drag queen. Overall, the film is quite funny and finishes on a most positive and satisfying note. Erika Borsos [pepper flower]
Description of Woman on Top
Isabella, a Brazilian chef, moves to San Francisco when her husband cheats on Isabella because of her motion sickness.Genre: Feature Film-Comedy
Rating: R
Release Date: 15-APR-2003
Media Type: DVD
Woman on Top pretends to be your standard fish-out-of-water romantic comedy laced with touches of magic realism. When you break it down and look at its elements, however, it turns out to be different than most, which is good. Hot Spanish star Penélope Cruz (All About My Mother) plays Isabella Oliveira, a Brazilian chef who falls madly in love with, and marries, a dashing waiter (Murilo Benício). Throughout her life she's been a victim of motion sickness, and the only way she can overcome it is by being in control, whether it's driving or being on top during sex. Her husband starts to feel that as a threat to his Latin masculinity, and when he steps out on her, she catches him. She decides to leave Brazil and stop loving him, ending up in San Francisco with an old friend (Harold Perrineau Jr.), now a drag queen. There she meets a nice guy-television producer (Mark Feuerstein), who sets her up with her own cooking show. Normally in this kind of movie his character would be the perfect antidote for her heartbreak, but he ends up more seduced by the success of her cooking show than by her. When her husband shows up, she becomes trapped in a love triangle where both men are deeply flawed. Can she forgive her husband's infidelity and fall back in love with him? Forget the answer. The fact that the question is being asked separates Woman on Top from the other broad, romantic comedies that share its tone. Plus it's chock-full of seductive Brazilian music. --Andy Spletzer
Bestsellers in DVD
![The Story of Jeremiah [VHS] Image](/images/noimg.gif)
The Story of Jeremiah [VHS]Vision Video; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Wresting With God [VHS]by Vision Video
Vision Video; Published: 1990-10-01; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Price in other shops:
Study Bible Video with Workbook [VHS]Spring Arbor Distributors; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $7.95
Price in other shops:
Tempo:Childrens TV Favourites Video [VHS]HarperCollins Audio; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $9.17
Price in other shops:
Tempo.Herbs:Parseley'Sb/ Party Video [VHS]HarperCollins Audio; VHS Tape; VHS Video
![Strike the Original Match [VHS] Image](/images/Strike-the-Original-Match-VHS-0001374079-X.jpg)
Strike the Original Match [VHS]New Liberty Films; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Price in other shops:
![Medjugorje The Miracles and the Message [VHS] Image](/images/Medjugorje-The-Miracles-and-the-Message-VHS-0001373293-X.jpg)
Medjugorje The Miracles and the Message [VHS]JPN Film Production; Release date: 1995-12-15; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $29.99
Mayo Clinic Echocardiography Review Course for Boards and Recertification DVD 2008by Mayo
DVD
Price in other shops:
Pediatric Diagnostic Imaging DVD: Single Userby Oakstone
DVD
Price in other shops:
Cost Accounting [VHS]by Charles T. Horngren, George Foster, Srikant M. Datar, Howard Teall
Pearson Canada, Toronto; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Similar DVDs, VHS Video, Audio CDs
Under the Tuscan Sun (Widescreen Edition)Buena Vista Home Video; Release date: 2004-02-03; DVD
Best price: $4.66
Price in other shops:
The Good NightSony; Release date: 2008-04-01; Published: 2008-04-01; DVD
Best price: $0.79
Price in other shops:
Twice Upon a YesterdayLions Gate; Release date: 1999-10-26; DVD
Best price: $6.93
Price in other shops:
Eat Drink Man WomanSony; Release date: 2002-03-05; DVD
Best price: $7.25
Price in other shops:
Tortilla SoupSony; Release date: 2002-01-15; DVD
Best price: $6.26
Price in other shops:
Like Water for ChocolateLions Gate; Release date: 2011-05-17; DVD
Best price: $4.65
Price in other shops:
Vicky Cristina BarcelonaGeneric; Release date: 2009-01-27; DVD
Best price: $2.50
Price in other shops:
Simply IrresistibleFox; Release date: 2002-08-27; Published: 2002-08-01; DVD
Best price: $4.44
Price in other shops:
Woman on Top - Music From The Motion PictureRelease date: 2000-09-12; Music CD
Best price: $6.71
Price in other shops:
BandidasFox; Release date: 2007-01-09; Published: 2007-01-01; DVD
Best price: $3.73
Price in other shops: