A generic, meaningless title like Just Like a Woman suits this uninspired tale of two women sticking together in a world where men done them wrong. The filmmaker’s elevator pitch was probably Thelma and Louise belly-dance their way cross-country to Santa Fe. That’s majorly overselling it.
Marilyn (Sienna Miller) has a no-good moocher of a cheating husband. Mona (Golshifteh Farahani) lives with a loving husband who allows her insufferable mother-in-law to control their lives. Only casual acquaintances at the movie’s start, the pair end up on the road together from Chicago to Santa Fe.
Marilyn is headed to an audition with the (apparently) world-famous Santa Fe Belly Dancing Company. Mona, an immigrant from Egypt, is fleeing the police after she accidentally poisoned her mother-in-law. They perform in restaurants to earn cash to help finance the trip, encountering the predictable sleazy men and racist rednecks.
There’s a seemingly endless stream of scenes of the two attractive female leads lounging around in their belly-dancing garb or underwear, talking about the men in their lives and their hopes for the future. That, too, is probably overselling it.
