Cleopatra [DVD]

Sandra (Natalia Oreiro) is a young soap opera actress. Her boyfriend / agent is trying to get her some contracts in American productions and is not willing to stop in his quest, no matter what Sandra has to do to get there. So on one side, we have Sandra that is getting tired of this guy and his ambitions and who does not want fame but desires to be loved instead, and on the other side we have an older lady who has had enough with the long string of unsuccessful attempts through which she has gone through. They meet when Cleopatra goes for a casting in the same soap in which Sandra works.

Cleopatra's attempt is a complete failure, but the terrible effort leads to a friendship that starts almost immediately and grows quickly after that, with both women deciding to leave everything and embark on a trip alla Thelma and Louise. After a rocky start involving a car crash, they are picked up by Carlos (Leonardo Sbaraglia) when they resort to their last alternative, hitchhiking a ride. He is a farmer who joins the ladies in their wonderful journey of friendship and self-discovery.

The story is very good, showing a high level of human emotion and presenting us with the characters' search for their own paths. But, as I mentioned before, the highest point of this movie is the astounding cast. The great couple of Norma Aleandro and Hector Alterio, who worked together before in the Oscar winning film "The Official Story" (Best Foreign Film), provides lovers of Argentinean cinema with a memorable flashback. But we also get to see Leonardo Sbaraglia, who is in my opinion by far the best actor of his generation. It is a bit sad that the role he has to play does not allow him to show the full magnitude of his abilities. That leaves us with Natalia Oreiro, the Uruguayan girl, who plays a part that is similar to what she is in real life, a soap opera actress. Oreiro is clearly not the most talented performer you can find in Latin American movies, but she has evolved a great deal since I last saw her a few years ago in different roles across various Argentinean soap operas. There is not much else to say, except...get this movie now!