''Pretendiendo'' (

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

: ''Pretending''), known as ''Ugly Me'' in the U.S., is a 2006

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a subgenre of comedy and slice of life fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount most obstacles. In a typica ...

film directed and written by

Claudio Dabed Claudio is an Italian and Spanish first name. In Portuguese it is accented Cláudio. In Catalan and Occitan it is Claudi, while in Romanian it is Claudiu. Origin and history Claudius was the name of an eminent Roman gens, the most important ...

. The film is about a beautiful but romantically disappointed woman named Amanda. In an attempt to avoid men and getting hurt again, she adopts another persona, that of an "ugly" girl, while at the same time posing as a gorgeous vixen named Helena. When

Argentinian Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish (masculine) or ( feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Argentines, ...

co-worker and

ladies' man A ladies' man or lady's man is a man who enjoys spending time socially with women, who strives to please them and that women find attractive. Ladies' man or lady's man may also refer to: Literature * ''Ladies' Man'' (novel), a 1978 novel by R ...

Marcelo enters into her life, Helena/Amanda will have to re-think her life choices as a single woman. The film stars

Bárbara Mori Bárbara Mori Ochoa () (born 2 February 1978) is a Uruguayan-born Mexican actress, model, producer and writer. She is known for playing the main character in the 2004 telenovela '' Rubí,'' one of the most successful telenovelas of all time. Sin ...

as Amanda/Helena.

Plot

Amanda, a young woman who is both beautiful and psychopathic, works as an architect. One day, she catches her boyfriend Pablo in bed with another woman, which infuriates her. In a fit of rage, she threatens him with a shotgun and then shoots him in the groin, hoping to prevent him from "cheating" again. As part of a court settlement, a psychiatrist is assigned to evaluate her, and he concludes that Amanda feels no remorse for her actions and would do the same thing again if given the opportunity. Amanda is subsequently fired from her job and decides to leave

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whose ...

. She convinces her brother to let her move into his vacant apartment in

Valparaíso Valparaíso (; ) is a major city, seaport, naval base, and educational centre in the commune of Valparaíso, Chile. "Greater Valparaíso" is the second largest metropolitan area in the country. Valparaíso is located about northwest of Santiago ...

. Realizing that avoiding romance is crucial to maintaining her new life, Amanda resorts to disguising herself as a frumpy, middle-aged woman with children by using a fat suit, unflattering clothes, buck-tooth dentures, makeup, and a wig. She then meets with Max, a local architect, and accepts a lower-paying job at his office. Max introduces her to the rest of the staff, including Guillermo, a married man who is devoted to his family, Karen, a scheming blonde bombshell, and Marcelo, a womanizer. When Amanda meets Marcelo, they both find each other repulsive. Marcelo is disgusted by Amanda's appearance, and Amanda is unsettled by how much he resembles Pablo. Max selects Amanda to lead an investigation into a maintenance issue at one of their projects, much to Karen's chagrin. During the investigation, Marcelo and Guillermo accompany Amanda, but they mostly engage in conversation about women and sex, leaving Amanda to do most of the work. While checking on a problem, Amanda is forced to remove part of her disguise, which nearly exposes her identity to Marcelo. However, she manages to avoid detection by shining her flashlight into his eyes. After work, Amanda and Marcelo go out for drinks. Amanda lies to Marcelo, claiming that she has two children, and lectures him about the importance of genuine love rather than just pursuing sex. In response, Marcelo tells her that marriage kills love and goes on to describe in detail what kind of woman he desires. Realizing the potential of this situation, Amanda begins manipulating Marcelo as her true self, using the alias "Helena". As "Helena", she gradually befriends Marcelo, who is puzzled by her disrespectful treatment of him and seeks advice from his co-worker on how to improve their relationship. Karen, envious of their close bond, attempts to embarrass Amanda by asking her to bring her children to the office. Amanda arranges for two orphan boys to be brought in by a compassionate priest and observes that Marcelo enjoys playing with them. Later, she teaches him how to cook a proper meal for "Helena". While conversing with him, they share a kiss. Marcelo invites "Helena" to his apartment and confesses his love for her. Amanda, feeling that Marcelo's affections are based solely on her unattractive disguise, convinces him to dress up as a woman and handcuff himself to the bed. She then pretends to cut his chest with a fake knife before leaving. The police subsequently rescue him, but the media coverage turns Marcelo into a laughingstock. Amanda later talks to Marcelo at work and discovers that his experience with "Helena" has caused him to swear off relationships until he gets married. Marcelo and Karen begin dating and soon become engaged. Amanda is devastated by Marcelo's decision but agrees to be Karen's maid of honor at the wedding. During the ceremony, Marcelo suddenly falls silent while delivering his vows. Amanda sneezes, and her dentures fall out, revealing her true smile, which is identical to "Helena's." Marcelo realizes that the two women are the same and breaks off his engagement to Karen. The film concludes with Amanda and Marcelo happily married with three children.

Cast

... Amanda Miranda / Helena *

Marcelo Mazzarello Marcelo is a given name, the Spanish and Portuguese form of Marcellus. The Italian version of the name is Marcello, differing in having an additional "l". Marcelo may refer to: * Marcelo Costa de Andrade (born 1967), Brazilian serial killer, rapi ...

... Marcelo Rocco *

Amaya Forch Amaya Forch Barry (born 5 March 1972) is a Chilean actress and pop singer known for making appearances on various Chilean television programs. After playing in a number of television and theatre productions, Forch began to venture into singin ...

... Karen *

Gonzalo Robles Gonzalo Eduardo Robles García (Santiago, April 22, 1952), is a Chilean film, theater and television actor and comedian. Biography Robles studied at Colegio San Ignacio. Later he started a career in Civil Construction at the Pontificia Unive ...

... Brother Juan *

Rodrigo Muñoz Rodrigo Martín Muñoz Salomón (; born 22 January 1982) is a Uruguayan footballer and Paraguayan who plays as a goalkeeper and captains the Paraguayan Primera División club Guarani. Club career Cerro Muñoz played for Cerro from 2002 to 2 ...

... Guillermo *

Jaime Azócar Jaime is a common Spanish and Portuguese male given name for Jacob (name), James (name), Jamie, or Jacques. In Occitania Jacobus became ''Jacome'' and later ''Jacme''. In east Spain, ''Jacme'' became ''Jaime'', in Aragon it became ''Chaime'', and i ...

... Max López *

Alejandro Cohen Alejandro is the Spanish form of the name Alexander. Alejandro has multiple variations in different languages, including Aleksander (Czech, Polish), Alexandre ( French), Alexandros (Greek), Alsander (Irish), Alessandro (Italian), Aleksandr (Rus ...

... Dr. Perner *

Paz Bascuñán María Paz Bascuñán Aylwin (, 2 June 1975), commonly known as Paz Bascuñán, is a Chilean theatre, film and television actress. Daughter of politician Mariana Aylwin and granddaughter of Chile's former president Patricio Aylwin, and has more t ...

... Fernanda *

Felipe Camiroaga Felipe Humberto Camiroaga Fernández (8 October 1966 – 2 September 2011) was a Chilean television presenter, actor and comedian, one of the most popular in his country. Camiroaga hosted many shows for Chilean television station TVN, includin ...

... Pepe *

Fernando Kliche Fernando is a Spanish and Portuguese given name and a surname common in Spain, Portugal, Italy, France, Switzerland, former Spanish or Portuguese colonies in Latin America, Africa, the Philippines, India, and Sri Lanka. It is equivalent to the G ...

... Pablo *

Fernando Farías Héctor Fernando Farías López (born in Llolleo, San Antonio on 27 July 1932) is a Chilean actor. He is recognized mainly for his participation in TV series for many decades, including his most famous comedy characters such Señor Retamales in ...

... Priest *

Ignacio Mansilla Ignacio is a male Spanish and Galician name originating either from the Roman family name Egnatius, meaning born from the fire, of Etruscan origin, or from the Latin name "Ignatius" from the word "Ignis" meaning "fire". This was the name of sev ...

... Detective *

Claudia Vergara Claudia may refer to: People Ancient Romans *Any woman from the Roman Claudia gens *Claudia (vestal), a Vestal Virgin who protected her father Appius Claudius Pulcher in 143 BC *Claudia Augusta (63–63 AD), infant daughter of Nero by his second ...

... Max's Wife * Cristian Martínez ... Nightclub Macho Guy *

... Nightclub DJ

External links

*
YouTube
2006 films Chilean comedy films 2006 romantic comedy films 2000s Spanish-language films {{2000s-romantic-comedy-film-stub