Wendy Ide 

Ma Ma review – manipulative melodrama

Even Penélope Cruz’s charisma can’t save this crass tear-jerker
  
  

The film depends heavily on Penélope Cruz’s star appeal.
The film depends heavily on Penélope Cruz’s star appeal. Photograph: Allstar/Oscilloscope pictures

Julio Medem’s melodrama leans heavily on the star appeal of Penélope Cruz. But even with Cruz radiating beatific charisma, there is little to recommend this unashamedly manipulative tale of a breast cancer survivor who strikes up a brief but meaningful relationship with a widower (Luis Tosar). The treatment of the subject is rather crass – Medem’s directorial flourishes are undermined by a score that pushes every weepy button it can shake a quavering violin at.

Watch the trailer for Ma Ma.
 

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