Penélope Cruz is finally set to turn heads on DVD with her Golden Globe-nominated turn in Pedro Almodóvar’s Volver.
April 4, 2007 (Press Release) --
In the film career of an actor, as in life, context and timing are paramount. Take, for instance, the curious case of Penélope Cruz.
After making a striking impression in 1992’s wartime romance Belle Epoque, Cruz worked dutifully and in fulfilling fashion in Spanish cinema for a number of years. She collaborated with Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar before he became (all over again) a really hot American arthouse commodity, and headlined Alejandro Amenábar’s striking 1997 film Abre Los Ojos. Turns in Fernando Trueba’s The Girl of Your Dreams and Almodóvar’s All About My Mother caught the attention of critics and casting directors, only cementing her status as a rising star. Awards nominations flowed during this period; beautiful and vulnerable, Cruz was regarded as an ingénue who could actually act.
Then Cruz came west, across the Atlantic. Beginning in the late summer of 2000, I received a series of breathlessly effusive phone messages and emails regarding Fina Torres’ Woman on Top, a whimsical comedy starring Cruz as a Brazilian chef who, ironically, relocates to San Francisco. “We’d love to arrange an interview with Penélope Cruz,” the publicists always said. “She’s going to be a big star. Let us know what you need.”
I certainly didn’t need a primer on Cruz’s career thus far, and was game for a feature on her and the film, which we arranged. But later in the fall, Woman on Top didn’t make much of a splash outside the top five markets, pulling in just under $5 million — perfectly nice for many niche indie titles, but disappointing considering the double-barreled approach Fox Searchlight had taken in marketing the film.
For various reasons, Cruz’s next three projects - All the Pretty Horses, the inert Captain Corelli’s Mandolin and Blow - all also flamed out at the box office, with many of the critical knocks on the former two specifically dinging her reputation as well. She was being seen as just another exotic flavor-of-the-week.
Then, in late 2001, came Vanilla Sky, Cameron Crowe’s remake of Abre Los Ojos. The tabloid-ready heat from her what-do-you-know relationship with star Tom Cruise fueled a re-ignition and further rise in stature for Cruz, but not necessarily of the good kind. In America, at least, she was, most charitably, famous for being famous — another eye-candy starlet gracing a string of magazine covers. In other (maybe even most) circles, Cruz was simply that other woman who was around when Cruise kicked poor Nicole Kidman to the curb.
Source: http://yahoo.com.cn
After making a striking impression in 1992’s wartime romance Belle Epoque, Cruz worked dutifully and in fulfilling fashion in Spanish cinema for a number of years. She collaborated with Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar before he became (all over again) a really hot American arthouse commodity, and headlined Alejandro Amenábar’s striking 1997 film Abre Los Ojos. Turns in Fernando Trueba’s The Girl of Your Dreams and Almodóvar’s All About My Mother caught the attention of critics and casting directors, only cementing her status as a rising star. Awards nominations flowed during this period; beautiful and vulnerable, Cruz was regarded as an ingénue who could actually act.
Then Cruz came west, across the Atlantic. Beginning in the late summer of 2000, I received a series of breathlessly effusive phone messages and emails regarding Fina Torres’ Woman on Top, a whimsical comedy starring Cruz as a Brazilian chef who, ironically, relocates to San Francisco. “We’d love to arrange an interview with Penélope Cruz,” the publicists always said. “She’s going to be a big star. Let us know what you need.”
I certainly didn’t need a primer on Cruz’s career thus far, and was game for a feature on her and the film, which we arranged. But later in the fall, Woman on Top didn’t make much of a splash outside the top five markets, pulling in just under $5 million — perfectly nice for many niche indie titles, but disappointing considering the double-barreled approach Fox Searchlight had taken in marketing the film.
For various reasons, Cruz’s next three projects - All the Pretty Horses, the inert Captain Corelli’s Mandolin and Blow - all also flamed out at the box office, with many of the critical knocks on the former two specifically dinging her reputation as well. She was being seen as just another exotic flavor-of-the-week.
Then, in late 2001, came Vanilla Sky, Cameron Crowe’s remake of Abre Los Ojos. The tabloid-ready heat from her what-do-you-know relationship with star Tom Cruise fueled a re-ignition and further rise in stature for Cruz, but not necessarily of the good kind. In America, at least, she was, most charitably, famous for being famous — another eye-candy starlet gracing a string of magazine covers. In other (maybe even most) circles, Cruz was simply that other woman who was around when Cruise kicked poor Nicole Kidman to the curb.
Source: http://yahoo.com.cn
Email
Print
SPAM
LEAVE A COMMENT
