Woman on Top

REVIEW
Light, easy on the palate but terribly insubstantial, the colorful Woman on Top attempts to mix the sensual culinary delights of Like Water for Chocolate with the fivolity of a Nora Ephron film. Needless to say, this could have used more time in the oven. The beautiful Cruz, clearly the main reason to see this otherwise uneven trifle, is a beguiling presence as Isabella, a Brazilian chef who discovers her handsome husband is cheating on her. She heads to San Francisco to reunite with her drag queen friend Monica (Perrineau), only to find fame and fortune as the host of a cooking show. Things heat up when Isabella's husband arrives to reconcile, only to find her producer also in romantic pursuit. Stretching the boundaries of magical illusion, the filmmakers seem content in trotting out romantic clichés and some questionable plot developments as Isabella casts her spell on one and all. Nonsense has its place in romantic comedy, just not too much of it.