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Woman on Top
Woman on Top
	Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Fina Torres
Written by	Vera Blasi
Produced by	Alan Poul
Starring	Penélope Cruz; Murilo Benício; Harold Perrineau Jr.; Mark Feuerstein;
Cinematography	Thierry Arbogast
Edited by	Leslie Jones
Music by	Luis Bacalov
Distributed by	Fox Searchlight Pictures
Release dates	May 2000 (Cannes); June 24, 2000 (Munich); September 22, 2000 (United States);
Running time	91 minutes
Country	United States
Languages	English; Portuguese;
Budget	$8 million
Box office	$10.2 million

Woman on Top is a 2000 American fantasy romantic comedy film directed by Fina Torres, written by Vera Blasi, and starring Penélope Cruz, Murilo Benício, Harold Perrineau Jr., and Mark Feuerstein.

Chef Isabella Oliveira leaves her husband Toninho in Brazil to try to start over at her friend Monica's in San Francisco, as he committed adultery and doesn't listen to her needs. She gets her own cooking show, then he follows to win her back.

The film was released in the United States on September 20, 2000, and has a 5.3 approval rating on IMDB.

Plot

Isabella has suffered from motion sickness all her life. Because of her illness, she could not play much with other children. She stayed at home and learned how to cook, becoming a renowned chef as an adult. She fell in love with Toninho and they opened a restaurant together, with Isabella stuck in the kitchen and Toninho out front taking the credit.

The only way for Isabella to control her motion sickness is to control her motion. She must drive rather than ride in a car, take stairs instead of elevators, lead while dancing, and be on top during coitus. Toninho, feeling emasculated and resentful of this, has an affair with a neighbor. Isabella flees Brazil to San Francisco to stay with her Afro-Brazilian transsexual friend Monica, who spent her early years with her in the fishing community of Salvador.

Despite old job offers from several restaurants, Isabella is unable to find a job until she takes over a cooking class at a local culinary school. Cliff, a neighbor and local television producer, smells her cooking, follows her to class, and signs her to host a live cooking show, Passion Food. She makes Monica her assistant on the show. Isabella performs a sacrifice to Yemanja, a Brazilian sea goddess, to harden her heart and make her never love Toninho again.

Back in Brazil, Toninho's restaurant is floundering without Isabella. Toninho curses Yemanja, and the fishermen stop catching any fish. He discovers she has gone to Monica's and follows her to San Francisco. He spots her on television and tracks her to the studio.

With a group of local street musicians, Toninho sneaks into the studio and onto the set, serenading Isabella on the live broadcast. Cliff hires him and the musicians for the show over Isabella's objections. She tries to pursue a relationship with Cliff but Toninho continually tries to win her back.

Network executives offer to syndicate Isabella's show nationally, but only after demanding a number of changes, including firing Monica. With the restaurant closed, Toninho apologizes to Yemanja but tells her to "stay out of [his] business" with Isabella. He quits the show and makes another attempt to win her back. Isabella goes after him but has to take an elevator, and her motion sickness slows her enough to allow Toninho to depart. She also quits the show rather than accept the changes demanded by the network.

Isabella, with her love still gone but now wanting it returned, tries to cook another sacrifice for Yemanja but finds her cooking talent is gone. Undaunted, Monica substitutes some boxed macaroni and cheese. Isabella makes the second offering but nearly drowns. She has a vision of Yemanja, who rejects her new offering.

Isabella goes to collect her things from the television studio. Toninho, sent by Monica, shows up and suggests they cook something together. As they cook, the fish return to the village waters and Yemanja returns Isabella's original offering along with her love for Toninho.

Toninho and Isabella later operate a new restaurant as equal partners and with Cliff and Monica as a couple.

Cast

Penélope Cruz as Isabella Oliveira
- Analu De Castro as 2-year-old Isabella
- Thais De Sá Curvelo as 5-year-old Isabella
Murilo Benício as Toninho Oliveira
Harold Perrineau Jr. as Monica Jones
Mark Feuerstein as Cliff Lloyd
John De Lancie as Alex Reeves
Wagner Moura as Rafi
Ana Gasteyer as Claudia Hunter
Anne Ramsay as TV director
Eliana Guttman as Isabella's mother
Eduardo Mattedi as Isabella's father

Production

The film was shot on location in Salvador, Brazil, and San Francisco, United States. Drag queen RuPaul read multiple times for the part of Monica Jones, which eventually went to Perrineau Jr.^[3]

Release

The film premiered in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival^[4] and screened at the Munich International Film Festival on June 24, 2000 before receiving a North American theatrical release by Fox Searchlight Pictures on September 22, 2000.

Critical response

Woman on Top received mixed reviews from critics. Metacritic reports a 41 out of 100 ratings, based on 31 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".^[5] On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a 34% score based on 97 reviews, with an average rating of 4.7/10. The site's consensus:

Despite Penelope Cruz's beauty and charm, the movie is too tepid to be a romance and too silly to be believable. And the movie is too eager to please with an ending that seems more like a cop-out.^[6]

Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "C" on an A+ to F scale.^[7]

Box office

The film opened at #10 at the North American box office, earning $2,008,191 in its opening weekend.^[8] Ultimately, the film grossed $5,020,111 in North America playing at a high of 1,086 theaters; overseas, it grossed $5,174,163 for a worldwide total of $10,194,274, becoming a modest box office success against an $8 million budget.^[2]