By EWAN McDONALD
(Herald rating: * * * )
A lightweight romance that could have been made in the 50s with Debbie Reynolds and ... oh, maybe not. You'd have to change key elements of the story.
Penelope Cruz plays the Brazilian Isabella, an artist with food. When she cooks, it is
love at first bite. She falls for the macho hunk Toninho (Murilo Benicio), marries him, slaves in his restaurant and is happy.
There is one technicality. She was born with motion sickness. It doesn't affect her if she's in control. In a car, she must drive. And in bed, she has to be on top (forget the Debbie Reynolds idea).
This drives Toninho crazy; when he finds life more comfortable with another woman she flies to San Francisco and moves in with her best friend, the transvestite Monica Jones (Harold Perrineau Jr, and forget Debbie again).
Isabella earns a cooking show on local TV with Monica as her sidekick but the network execs want her to "look less ethnic," use Tabasco instead of real peppers, wear a lowcut dress and "lose the freak." Her American producer and would-be boyfriend (Mark Feuerstein) loves her cooking but sides with the suits.
Likeable enough for the first hour but you might find yourself drifting out to the kitchen after that.
Running time: 93 mins
Rental: Today
