Land of Women Review: The Series With Eva Longoria On Apple Tv+ Keeps What Little It Promises
Cast: Eva Longoria, Santiago Cabrera, Victoria Bazúa, Carmen Maura, Gloria Munoz, Ariadna Gil, Layna Sheppard
Director: Carlos Sedes, Jacobo Martínez, Ken Biller
Streaming Platform: Apple TV+
Filmyhype.com Ratings: 3/5 (three stars)
Land of Women definitely turns the Apple TV+ schedule pink, with a miniseries, based on a bestseller by Sandra Barneda. which brings with it two very popular names such as Eva Longoria and Carmen Maura. A product that seems to emerge from the past, it is armed with romanticism, beautiful landscapes, and sentiment and offers a feminine story which, however harmless, often slips into the obsolete, or rather into the predictable and avoidable. It’s a shame because the foundations were all there for experimentation, but at Apple, they decided to opt for partial vision and references. From the title, it is clear that this miniseries, based on the novel by Sandra Barned, focuses on three generations of women all dealing with a particular moment in their lives. We are in Spain and Gala (Eva Longoria), her elderly mother Julia (Carmen Maura), and her teenage daughter Kate (Victoria Bazua) must escape and embark on an adventure that will inevitably change the course of their lives.
Land of Women – Intertwining of lives (Land of Women). Many titles show the multilingual identity that now distinguishes many Apple TV+ products. The last of which is the one produced and starring Eva Longoria, which if it had aired on ABC immediately after the end of Desperate Housewives, would have been perfectly in place since it lives above all on the fame of the actress, well-liked and loved and who has always fought for the rights of Latin Americans. Her character, Gala, seems like an on-screen alter ego of hers as she juggles raising a family and starting a successful business in New York. However, something is about to completely change her life, as in any self-respecting TV series.
Land of Women Review: The Story Plot
Land of Women takes us into the life of the rich, wealthy, spoiled, and a little bored Gala (Eva Longoria), who shares a dream life in New York with her husband (James Purefoy), amidst pomp, receptions, and many projects. Her daughter Kate (Victoria Bazua) is enrolled in a very prestigious university, and is in the classic rebellious phase, while her mother Julia (Carmen Maura), originally from Spain, is in a sumptuous retirement home, from which she naturally dreams of always escaping Anyway. During the opening ceremony of her new place, she notices that her husband is late in arriving, but that’s not the last surprise, because two shady characters make her understand that her perfect husband owes them millions of dollars, of not exactly legal origin. As if that weren’t enough, as soon as she gets home, she barely has time to glimpse her husband who is running away. Without many alternatives and with the fear of being arrested or worse, she takes all the money she has left and convinces her mother and daughter to follow her on what should be a sort of family vacation in Spain, in the small Catalan village where her mother Julia was born.
Of course, things won’t be that simple, once they get there, they will discover that everything is different from their sumptuous life in the States. But not all is lost because there, among farms, and vineyards, they will make new acquaintances, discover new sides of themselves but above all a series of secrets and truths whose existence they were completely unaware of. Land of Women is written by Ramón Campos, Gema R. Neira, and Paula Fernández, and is based on the bestseller by Sandra Barneda. It undoubtedly represents a convincing attempt by Apple TV+ to offer a light, fun, and lively product for the female audience, especially those over 30, and the choice of Eva Longoria in this sense is not at all accidental.
The American actress at the beginning of the millennium had become a global diva thanks to her participation in Desperate Housewives, which undoubtedly marked an iconic moment for what concerns the representation of women on the small screen, even giving a certain competition to a pillar like Sex and the City. Years have passed, and Longoria is no longer on the front pages, but she is certainly a coherent choice for the role of the protagonist, who in all respects actually appears to be almost a clone of the late Gabrielle, the superficial, impertinent socialite character, yet very nice and full of life with which she entered the hearts of millions of spectators. Already here, however, we understand that there is a fundamental problem and that is the fact that Land of Women is a product that brings nothing new and says nothing new.
Land of Women Review and Analysis
Land of Women winks a lot and has all that cinematography designed for the more adult female audience, which speaks to us of second chances, especially those following the greener age so to speak, it speaks to us of the rediscovery of roots and origins, but also of new places, new people, flavors and of course knowledge. It cannot be denied that one’s thoughts immediately turn to titles such as Eat Pray Love, Under the Tuscan Sun, or the Book Club saga, which this miniseries also reflects in its appeal to a very specific audience. However, this completely excludes all other segments. It is unlikely that male or younger audiences will find this sort of female-driven epic in any way interesting, this mixture of romantic comedy and journey into the past. But as far as the primary objective is concerned, the target at which the production was aiming, the target is completely hit. The best things are naturally offered by Carmen Maura, for many years Muse of the great Pedro Almodovar, who although he too has a not particularly innovative character (the classic wild grandmother who doesn’t want to sit still) has too much class and craft to fail.
His acting as a guide through the memories of the past, about her youth in Spain, manages to bring out more than a few smiles veiled in melancholy, which is the atmosphere that most enhances the whole, it’s a shame that it isn’t exploited enough. The rest of the cast, including the male counterparts, have little to offer. Bazua would like to be a modern female character for Generation Z, but she is so stylized that she appears almost impalpable on more than one occasion. Eva Longoria continues to be a pleasant mix of sensuality and smiles, but she too suffers from a script that, more than anything, she doesn’t dare to. Land of Women puts together a list of clichés, but above all a long series of stereotypes. The biggest flaw of the miniseries is that instead of making us truly discover Catalonia, Spain, its identity, it gives us an image of it which is the same one we have seen in many other films designed for the American public: that of land linked to the imagination of the Anglo-Saxon tourist, distant from modernity, in short, the typical place where you go on holiday and then say goodbye thinking that after all, perhaps, it wouldn’t even be so bad to stay and live there.
Yes, but in the meantime you’re on the flight and returning to New York, with all due respect to the fascinating Spaniards who grow wine and the sunsets in the countryside. Between quite laughable gags, seen 300 times, and difficult-to-digest twists, the whole still has its effectiveness, and a certain elegance, but it is difficult to understand why Apple TV+ wanted to link itself to a production of this type, far from the aim of broadening the shirts of your reality streaming to the mainstream public. Land of Women is perfect for you dear viewers, you who dreamed of marrying the twin of Antonio Banderas or Javier Bardem, meeting freedom is the passion in the land of Spain, but at least have the coherence of If you watch it when you’re alone, your husband or children will care very little. Neither the mother nor the daughter takes Gala’s “headshot” well: if the elderly woman, who suffers from senile dementia, takes advantage of it for a journey through memories even if no one seems to be happy with her return, the young teenager sees it as a place forgotten by everything and everyone, without a good wi-fi connection.
Soon, as is easy to imagine, the three generations of women under the same roof, who have to share with the passionate Amat, will learn to get closer to each other, will understand the importance of family and cultural values such as small actions daily life, in addition to the rediscovery of working the land to obtain its fruits – even Eva Longoria’s change of clothes throughout the six episodes is part of the character’s awareness. The evocative landscapes of the Spanish countryside, combined with poetic photography and an almost pictorial use of light, obviously make the location full of the American gaze toward Europe. The protagonist trio works on a chemistry level, as does that between Longoria and Cabrera. We appreciate the developments of storylines and characters, even if they are a little too predictable and soap-like (this is why the placement on ABC would have been apt). We appreciate the length of the episodes (around forty minutes, like a broadcast series), even if perhaps we would have liked a few more to better develop some subplots, especially since they conclude with an over-generalist ending resulting from a type of programming that almost no longer exists. However, it all seems a bit too much already seen (and pandering).
The path of self-awareness, independence, and emancipation of the protagonists is equally important but already seen and developed in a more original way elsewhere, despite the constant bilingualism of all the characters providing them with that extra something. To remember the double identity of the three generations (to which the Catalan is added, causing further self-irony), as well as that of the other characters. The “underworld” is depicted in a way that is a little perplexing (forgive us Amaury Nolasco from Prison Break). Inspired by the best-selling novel Land of Women by award-winning author Sandra Barneda and adapted for TV by Ramón Campos, Gema R. Neira, and Paula Fernández, Land of Women is directed by Iris Award winner Carlos Sedes and seems to follow the “bad example” of Palm Royale, which lived too much on being the daughter of Desperate Housewives.
In this case not only for the charm and self-irony of the protagonist, who does not fail to show her more fiery and irascible side, but also for the similar comedy, cynical but full of feeling, which characterized the mother of the dramedy genre. However, the lesson has not been learned and the result is entertainment that is (too) generalist and (too) already seen. When we talk about multi-genre we are referring to the numerous chords that Land of Women – Intertwined Lives: it is a comedy, a crime, and a drama series. Perhaps this mix of genres sometimes makes it difficult to frame but not to watch because, as we said before, it is also a pleasant pastime. This mix of genres also reflects the relational dynamics between the protagonists: we are talking about three very charismatic women whose lives and peculiarities are difficult to summarize. However, this trip, as improvised as it is crazy and unpredictable, serves as a warning for three women who also have the opportunity to consolidate their bond and discover new aspects of their character.
In the end, they were left alone, a symbol of a stoic struggle against the male figure who abandoned them. The trio’s relationship is one of the strong points of the series which almost forgets to characterize the supporting characters, including the villain of this series who appears flat. Nonetheless, the show’s magnetic performances (particularly Maura’s) and its beautiful scenery are enjoyable enough to offer viewers a welcoming sense of escapism. While Land of Women would have been better if it had higher stakes, particularly when it comes to Gala’s constant fear of having her hideout discovered, it gets points for the well-developed dynamic between the trio of protagonists of the series. Mixing many genres, as we have written, was perhaps not the best choice for this type of plot which was very linear in its ability to argue and filter the characteristics of the three protagonists. The microplots (which should have been main given the context in which the series begins) have little thrust and the little bit of crime and tension that should be there disappears in comparison to the protagonist trio.
Land of Women Review: The Last Words
As we wrote in our review, Land of Women draws strength from Eva Longoria’s charisma, which supports the series and its cultural importance but fails to tell a story of female emancipation that is too predictable and exasperated, while it would have benefited from a greater narrative balance and perhaps even a few more episodes. The production work on bilingualism and the quality of the staging are commendable, less so the purely narrative side that is not very original and the Mediterranean and European inspiration that they want to give to the series at all costs, including bucolic locations. The excessive mixing of genres makes the central focus of the series lose a bit, which instead should have remained on the intergenerational relationship of the three female protagonists who do not lack skill and charisma.
