Ma ma

Penélope Cruz's decision to produce—as well as star in—Julio Medem's would-be tearjerker is entirely understandable, since it gives her the chance to play a positively saintly woman. Magda's (Cruz) husband has left her for a younger woman, and she is now mostly solo raising her adorable, soccer-loving son Dani (Teo Planell). Adding to her domestic difficulties, Magda is diagnosed with advanced breast cancer. Magda encounters kindly Arturo (Luis Tosar), a soccer scout whose wife and daughter are subsequently killed in a car crash, after which she comforts him, and romance blossoms. Soon, Magda is pregnant, and becomes determined to stay alive until she can deliver the baby. Medem's melodramatic flourishes here lack conviction, including a gynecologist who sings love songs to his patients. Cruz, of course, is a luminous presence, while young Planell is solid as the boy who must grow up all too quickly (Tosar, on the other hand, is wasted in a part that requires him to do little but look endlessly sympathetic). Sappy rather than touching, this is optional, at best. (F. Swietek)