By their very nature, road-trip movies have a wide world of possibility open to them, but they also have the same challenge to face: how to tell an engaging story in a form that has no real narrative structure. On the one hand, it can work very well indeed (look at Thelma and Louise, for instance), and on the other, it can end up being a pointless muddle. The Argentinian film Cleopatra: A Life's Journey falls somewhere in the middle. It's a reasonably well done film that doesn't quite have the spark to bring it fully to life.

In typical road-trip-movie fashion, Cleopatra opens by introducing us to the two main characters who, although they don't yet know it, will become friends as they take a joint voyage off to who-knows-where. Cleopatra (Norma Aleandro) is the more intriguing of the two: she's a retired teacher with an elderly husband and grown children, and a long-buried desire to be an actress. Aleandro does a nice job with presenting a Cleopatra who's believable as a fairly ordinary-seeming woman whose innate sense of independence finally spurs her to action. We also meet Sandra (Natalia Oreiro), an actress with lots of career prospects who is nonetheless fed up with her pushy producer/boyfriend. When the two meet at an audition for a soap opera, the main pieces are in place, and the film rolls onward as the women decide to take off on their own.

As we might expect, Cleopatra offers a variety of incidents loosely tied together by the "have an experience and move on" structure, and along the way Cleopatra and Sandra get to know each other and learn about life, love, and the choices they have to make. It's actually not quite as trite as that one-sentence summary makes it sound, but neither does the film ever really develop its basic premise to give us something more substantial.

At times, Cleopatra seems as though it's going to rise above its straightforward style. For instance, early on we get an intriguing scene in which Cleopatra addresses the camera directly, telling us how she got her name and what her life has been like. But this kind of adventurous breaking of narrative boundaries seems to be quickly set aside in favor of a more mundane storytelling method, until the very end, in which Cleopatra once more speaks to the audience. It's an interesting touch, but it's just a hint at what the film could have been like if it had been a bit more daring and free-wheeling.

The DVD

Video

Cleopatra appears in an anamorphic widescreen transfer (1.85:1) that offers a pleasant viewing experience. While contrast tends to be a bit heavy in darker scenes and the picture is a bit soft, overall the image is bright and colorful as appropriate, with a generally clean appearance. The English subtitles are optional (and viewers also have the choice to view the film with Spanish subtitles).

Audio

The Dolby 2.0 Spanish track is clean and clear-sounding, with the various elements of dialogue and music balanced in a satisfactory manner. A dubbed English 2.0 track is also included. I'm pleased to note that the subtitles are optional, and that there are both English and Spanish subtitles available.

Extras

The only special features here are two trailers: one for the film itself, and another for Vidas Privadas.

Final thoughts

Cleopatra: A Life's Journey is a reasonably well-made film, with the low-key character study of its two protagonists as its main appeal. It simply doesn't have all that much to offer to make it stand out from any other competently made but not exceptional film. If you tend to enjoy open-ended, episodic stories, as road-trip films generally are, Cleopatra is probably a decent rental choice. Rent it.