Product Description

When Isabella decides to break free from her rocky marriage and move to San Francisco, she discovers the perfect recipe for coming out on top - her own hit TV cooking show. But when her producer (Mark Feuerstein, What Women Want) falls in love and her ex-husband (Murilo Benicio) comes to town to win her affection back, who knows which man will end up on the bottom? Critics rave Woman On Top is "absolutely captivating" (Movieline) and "one of the most delightful films of the year!" (WNBC) Filled with passion and laughter, it's a spicy comedy about making relationships more delicious!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #21313 in DVD
• Brand: TCFHE
• Released on: 2003-04-15
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC, Widescreen
• Original language: English, French
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish
• Dubbed in: Spanish
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 92 minutes

Amazon.com
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

Customer Reviews

Hot, Sizzling Chef on "Top" in Every Way
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 problem: Isabella suffers from motion sickness and during their love-making she must be the one on top. This position eventually frustrates Toninho who makes one *fatal* mistake - he cheats on his wife, so he can once more be in a more dominant position. She discovers this major indiscretion and leaves him. 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 decided to move to San Francisco ... to try out her luck.

In San Francisco, she manages to find Monica, a childhood friend, who offers her a place to live. Monica it turns out is a cross-dressing male/ a drag queen ... There are flashback scenes to their childhood when growing up and the viewer discovers how Isabella developed her cooking skills and talent. In San Francisco, Isabella goes job hunting and is rejected by one of the 5 star restaurant managers who had given her so much praise when he visited in Bahia. She is however hired by a cooking school and becomes enormously popular. Her class is attended by a huge following and among them is a young television producer who is being pressured to create a new T.V. program for his network. He is enticed by Isabella's beauty and delicious food. He gets a brainstorm of an idea. He sells the network on creating a cooking program which stars Isabella and her hot and spicey creations ... Monica dresses Isabella in some sexy outfits which along with her spectacular dishes from Bahia becomes an instant success.

Meanwhile, Toninho is very lonely in Bahia. He is remorseful and deeply misses Isabella. He makes some offerings to the goddess of the sea , with the hope of reuniting with his wife. He flies to San Francisco then, by pure chance discovers his wife is the major star of a hugely popular TV cooking program. He serenades Isabella with a marvelous Brazilian band ...As luck would have it, she rebuffs his efforts. He pursues her to the studio, and along with the band, ends up providing background music for her program. The network executives consider cutting them out but soon learn, Toninho and the band create more magic and increase the program's ratings ... As executives often do, just when everything is going extremely well, they make an inane decision to change Isabella's cultural approach and tone down her television persona - with the goal of appealing to mainstream America.

It is quite an entertaining adventure to view how this major dilemma is resolved. Also, Cliff, the local TV producer is a rival for Isabella's affections, just when Toninho has resolved to do everything in his power to win back Isabella for himself. This film is pure fantasy and pure entertainment. It is a pleasure to watch. Penelope Cruz sparkles in her role. Murilo Benicio is a joy to view but his character is less well developed which is unusual given his popularity and extraordinairy acting ability. Mark Feurerstein plays a believable TV producer. Harrold Perrineau, Jr is an amusing cross-dressing drag queen and a good friend to Isabella ...Overall, the film is quite funny and finishes on a positive and satisfying note. Erika Borsos [pepper flower]

A pleasure to watch. Totally entertaining.
This is beautiful and sensual movie filled with Brazilian culture and folklore that is a feast to your senses. You can almost feel the burn of the chili pepper and smell the fragrance of the aromatic coffee that makes the San Francisco men follow Isabella in the streets. The movie is colorful and mystical and a large part of its charm is due to the amazing Penelope Cruz (an actress I learned to admire not only for her beauty but also for her acting talent after watching her in the Spanish movie "Sin Noticias de Dios") who totally controls the screen.
Isabella (Penelope Cruz) has had the motion sickness since she was a little girl. She feels bad in every kind of motion, unless she controls the movement - this is also true regarding sex; she has to lead. Isabella is a cook in her husband's restaurant. She does well and cooks delicious foods, but somehow feels neglected - as she is left back in the kitchen. Tonino (Murilo Benicio), her husband, feels he is not a man enough being "led" by his wife. And so, one night Isabella catches him in the hands of another woman, and runs away to San Francisco to try and build a new life for herself. She hopes to try and relive her dreams of fame which she threw away when she married Tonino. Isabella heads to San Francisco to live with her old friend Monica, a transvestite.
In San Francisco Isabella gains fame by having her own cooking show. She is also courted by Cliff (Mark Feuerstein), the producer of the show, who is attracted to the Brazilian magic. Meanwhile back in Bahaia Tonino is facing a lot of trouble. Having cursed Yimanza, the goddess of the sea, in a burst of anger, bad luck knocks on his door. All the fisherman are upset at him as the fish do not come to their nets. Customers stay away from his restaurant and he cannot live without Isabella. So, Tonino heads to San Francisco to try and get Isabella back.
The movie is a combination of reality and myth. The gods, so the movie begins, have given Isabella incredible beauty. The gods, and especially Yimanza, the goddess of the sea, control the love and faith of our heroes and respond to their gifts and wishes. Human beings are controlled by faith and there are those who belong to each other. On the other hand, this is also a movie that has something to say about feminine strength and its power, in spite of gods and men. Isabella has to struggle but she is able to get her own way. Between the lines the movie also has a lot of criticisem about the American and the American televeision culture and maybe its lack of warmth vs. the Brazilian culture. There are a lot of cooking scenes where Isabella explains to her viewers how to cook this or that sauce while intertwining this with her life philosophy (always share the dish with someone you love). The men watching her show sit groaning against the screen and I must admit - she is a delicious sight.
Penelope Cruz is able to portray sensuality and innocence at the same time. She is the one who makes this movie what it is. The other actors are a little pale next to her, except the incredible Monica (Harold Perrineau Jr.) who sometimes manages to steal the show. All in all, this is a fun, entertaining movie.

One Of The Best Movies Ever!!!
"Woman on Top" was one of the best movies I've ever seen. The bedroom love scenes were some of the most beautifully portrayed and sensual that I've ever seen without all of the nudity and vulgarity usually portrayed in American made movies. The scenes of the beautiful,Bahia,Brazil especially it's Peulorinho district where Isabella and Toninho live are also very beautifully portrayed and no place in the world is more lovely than the Peulorinho at night. Having travelled to Bahia I can testify that Bahia definitely has a magical feel and visitors to Bahia often remark,"Bahia Enfeitica" which means "Bahia casts its spell on you" and well it might given the number of African deities called Orixas that are worshipped in Bahia. Yemanja is often referred to as the "Mother of the Orixas" and offerings are frequently made to Her by Brazilians to incur Her blessings especially on New Year's Eve where everyone in Brazil goes to the beach at night with their offerings in hand all dressed in white. This movie is far from a fairytale as it beautifully portrays how the Orixas are very much appreciated in the daily lives of Brazilians.The directors of this movie were thoughtful enough to engage well-known Candomble priestesses Mae Lucia and Mae Stella to get an accurate portrayal of Candodmble and it's rituals. I thought that Penelope Cruz and Murilo Benicio did a wonderful job as a married couple and they have a wonderful chemistry together on the screen and although both have their flaws as individuals they learn by combining their strengths how to create the perfect dish. I highly recommend this DVD to people especially those that have an interest in Bahia and Candomble or just want to view a beautifully,portrayed love story. The soundtrack is also a wonderful addition to the movie. Yemanja be praised!!!