I started watching Soy tu duena a few months ago. I thought at last I had come across the best soap opera that ever existed. Now sitting here months later, emotions drained, I feel compelled to write a review that's more honest and not seen through rose-colored glasses.
Produced in 2010 and starring Lucero, Fernando Colunga and Gaby Spanic. If you know anything about the story. Lucero plays the very beautiful Valentina Villalba , a lovable, disturbingly naïve protagonist who is engaged to be married to Alonzo Penalvert, played to perfection by David Zepeda. Unfortunately, he cheats on her with Ivana, who plays Valentina' cousin, scheming and cartoonishly evil and unfortunately our antagonist. Played not to perfection by Gaby Spanic. Some very interesting situations are set up which will make for lack-luster pay offs later in the series, but for now Alonso leaves Lucero standing at the altar. This leaves Valentina heartbroken, furious and vengeful. In a fit of rage, she pushes everyone away, destroys a luxury vehicle that could have fed a small village and drives off to her family hacienda, armed with nothing but a bad attitude. There she meets Rosendo, a mustachioed twirling villain who gives off a real air of menace and played quite well by Sergio Goyri.
We follow her as she whips her staff into shape and unbelievably earns their respect while going about it in the most unpleasant way possible. Not by showing actual skills like coming up with innovative ideas, being savvy about business or even wrangling a bull. How do you ask? By barking orders at them and showing her best horse riding skills. A badass, Valentina is not.
She is soon joined by her family, her aunt that is a horrifically bad parent ,faithful nanny Benita and Ivana whose schemes and many atrocities she has committed in Mexico sees her joining them in Los Coscobellas.
Then in the neighboring hacienda, Valentina goes to negotiate its purchase to get rid of a problem with livestock, and there we get to meet our other romantic lead, Jose Miguel.
Now I stop at this point to say something very important because at this point this was when the soap started and when its problems also really began.
Fernando Colunga immediately captivated me in this scene where he meets Valentina for the first time. He is humorous, incredibly attractive and sexy. He is not intimidated by her bratty behavior. A man's man in every way with great charisma. I do not exaggerate, this is current year and I am yet to see any actor on the big screen or any streaming service that impressed in the first few seconds. I fully understand his heart throb status in Latin America.
It seems Valentina senses it too and spends the next episodes doing her best to get rid of him but after two very violent encounters involving a snake and a gun, you can tell she's not going to succeed at this. Meanwhile her cousin Ivana, sets her eyes on Jose Miguel and has decided this too she will take from Valentina. But its not going to be easy. Jose Miguel is no Alonso but then again Jose Miguel is perfect. Therein lies the problem with the character of Jose Miguel. Perfect always ends up boring no matter how many times you show your abs.
I could go on and on about Jose Miguel's parents snoozefest marriage problems, Rosendo's diabolical plots that get old fast, the storekeeper and the doctor as ineffective side characters, sexual and physical assaults that are not given the weight it deserves, Madam Leonore not doing the basic homework on Ivana ,the lawyer that worked hard and received nothing but disrespect, the mysterious past of Jose Miguel that did not generate enough conflict and Jose Miguel's impossible career choices architect, lawyer, priest.
This increased the tedium in the show, dragging us along and showing they do not have the creativity to create or maintain interesting side-plots or maintain interest in main plot. There was no real sense of suspense concerning the lovers' relationship, apart from Valentina's stubbornness which waxed and waned depending on the writers. But you knew nothing was ultimately going to get between the lovers because the antagonistic forces were quite ineffective. Ivana was never considered a serious romantic rival and neither was Alonzo. And Rosendo was repugnant to all. Don't get me wrong, there were a lot of interesting set-pieces that dealt with murder and mayhem that caused a lot of conflict, but nothing that wasn't forgotten soon after.
A sizable number of the supporting characters were dull as dishwater or goofy. I think the producers of the show noted this and decided to fill the show with the main characters acting like love-lorn teens for most of the show. This was appealing at first but sooner than later watching extensive shots of Colunga and Lucero's lip-locked moments and intimate romps became repetitive and done for ratings. Their wedding night scene was so indulgent, I hope the actors' hubris wasn't involved in that choice of scene. I have seen these two actors in earlier work were their romance was handled with more maturity. Less is always more.
Concerning Valentina, I have to say I am beginning to understand why typically in telenovelas the female protagonists start out poor with multiple antagonists and life situations against them. A tired trope but effective. It is hard to empathize with a beautiful, rich woman with the love of the male book cover model. Valentina was never under anyone's power or influence but always made poor decisions that had middling consequences. Now don't get me wrong, Lucero is a great actress but these acts did some damage to her characterization Everyone loves an underdog. Also, her goals are never really clear in the show. Does she want to be a successful ranch owner or make spend endless hours ramping up the sexual tension with Jose Miguel? One makes for good drama while the other is cheeseville.
And in the interest of fairness, the same can be said of Colunga. He claims that he wants to be successful at reviving his ailing hacienda but spends less than ten episodes in the entire telenovela actually doing so.
Ivana played by Gabriela Spanic is not good in this role in my humble opinion. She just played the mean, not very sane girl in high school. With over exaggerated gestures played for comedy and her own brand of sexual aggression that just offended.
Rosendo played by the ever excellent Sergio Goyri who however did not play a great antagonist, just a force of nature acting on his basest impulses. His love for Valentina was not given the foundation it needed , so it seemed to come out of nowhere. It gave it a very contrived feel. Unlike Jacqueline Andere who achieved that antagonist status even with a limited script. Though I would have liked a bit more backstory between her and Rosendo. Not a finale shove-in reveal that everyone had guessed by the 80th episode.
Going to David Zepeda, he was a good addition to the cast. Managed to play both sides, good and bad. He was the only one that had actual stakes in the two main characters not getting together. Had he not been relegated to the stereotypical bad man for Valentina role, this story would have gotten much needed weight.
A show is defined by its secrets and in a successful telenovela the secrets must matter and by matter, I mean impact the main plot and cast. With lasting consequences. Those are the rules. But the secret that the whole show pivoted on Jose Miguel's parentage that ultimately didn't matter to anyone but Jose Miguel and his mother. And he was too good natured at the end to be too bothered by it. His relationship with his mother survived just fine. Let me ask this for people who disagree. If Rosendo had never been Jose Miguel's father, would the plotline have changed? Would anyone have acted differently in the show? I rest my case.
Anyway, looking back on this. I have to reiterate, the chemistry between the leads was one of legend. They had this in their earlier work of Alborada. You will fall in love with both characters and mostly want them to be together. But all the other elements needed for this telenovela to work were non-existent or poorly put together.
Produced in 2010 and starring Lucero, Fernando Colunga and Gaby Spanic. If you know anything about the story. Lucero plays the very beautiful Valentina Villalba , a lovable, disturbingly naïve protagonist who is engaged to be married to Alonzo Penalvert, played to perfection by David Zepeda. Unfortunately, he cheats on her with Ivana, who plays Valentina' cousin, scheming and cartoonishly evil and unfortunately our antagonist. Played not to perfection by Gaby Spanic. Some very interesting situations are set up which will make for lack-luster pay offs later in the series, but for now Alonso leaves Lucero standing at the altar. This leaves Valentina heartbroken, furious and vengeful. In a fit of rage, she pushes everyone away, destroys a luxury vehicle that could have fed a small village and drives off to her family hacienda, armed with nothing but a bad attitude. There she meets Rosendo, a mustachioed twirling villain who gives off a real air of menace and played quite well by Sergio Goyri.
We follow her as she whips her staff into shape and unbelievably earns their respect while going about it in the most unpleasant way possible. Not by showing actual skills like coming up with innovative ideas, being savvy about business or even wrangling a bull. How do you ask? By barking orders at them and showing her best horse riding skills. A badass, Valentina is not.
She is soon joined by her family, her aunt that is a horrifically bad parent ,faithful nanny Benita and Ivana whose schemes and many atrocities she has committed in Mexico sees her joining them in Los Coscobellas.
Then in the neighboring hacienda, Valentina goes to negotiate its purchase to get rid of a problem with livestock, and there we get to meet our other romantic lead, Jose Miguel.
Now I stop at this point to say something very important because at this point this was when the soap started and when its problems also really began.
Fernando Colunga immediately captivated me in this scene where he meets Valentina for the first time. He is humorous, incredibly attractive and sexy. He is not intimidated by her bratty behavior. A man's man in every way with great charisma. I do not exaggerate, this is current year and I am yet to see any actor on the big screen or any streaming service that impressed in the first few seconds. I fully understand his heart throb status in Latin America.
It seems Valentina senses it too and spends the next episodes doing her best to get rid of him but after two very violent encounters involving a snake and a gun, you can tell she's not going to succeed at this. Meanwhile her cousin Ivana, sets her eyes on Jose Miguel and has decided this too she will take from Valentina. But its not going to be easy. Jose Miguel is no Alonso but then again Jose Miguel is perfect. Therein lies the problem with the character of Jose Miguel. Perfect always ends up boring no matter how many times you show your abs.
I could go on and on about Jose Miguel's parents snoozefest marriage problems, Rosendo's diabolical plots that get old fast, the storekeeper and the doctor as ineffective side characters, sexual and physical assaults that are not given the weight it deserves, Madam Leonore not doing the basic homework on Ivana ,the lawyer that worked hard and received nothing but disrespect, the mysterious past of Jose Miguel that did not generate enough conflict and Jose Miguel's impossible career choices architect, lawyer, priest.
This increased the tedium in the show, dragging us along and showing they do not have the creativity to create or maintain interesting side-plots or maintain interest in main plot. There was no real sense of suspense concerning the lovers' relationship, apart from Valentina's stubbornness which waxed and waned depending on the writers. But you knew nothing was ultimately going to get between the lovers because the antagonistic forces were quite ineffective. Ivana was never considered a serious romantic rival and neither was Alonzo. And Rosendo was repugnant to all. Don't get me wrong, there were a lot of interesting set-pieces that dealt with murder and mayhem that caused a lot of conflict, but nothing that wasn't forgotten soon after.
A sizable number of the supporting characters were dull as dishwater or goofy. I think the producers of the show noted this and decided to fill the show with the main characters acting like love-lorn teens for most of the show. This was appealing at first but sooner than later watching extensive shots of Colunga and Lucero's lip-locked moments and intimate romps became repetitive and done for ratings. Their wedding night scene was so indulgent, I hope the actors' hubris wasn't involved in that choice of scene. I have seen these two actors in earlier work were their romance was handled with more maturity. Less is always more.
Concerning Valentina, I have to say I am beginning to understand why typically in telenovelas the female protagonists start out poor with multiple antagonists and life situations against them. A tired trope but effective. It is hard to empathize with a beautiful, rich woman with the love of the male book cover model. Valentina was never under anyone's power or influence but always made poor decisions that had middling consequences. Now don't get me wrong, Lucero is a great actress but these acts did some damage to her characterization Everyone loves an underdog. Also, her goals are never really clear in the show. Does she want to be a successful ranch owner or make spend endless hours ramping up the sexual tension with Jose Miguel? One makes for good drama while the other is cheeseville.
And in the interest of fairness, the same can be said of Colunga. He claims that he wants to be successful at reviving his ailing hacienda but spends less than ten episodes in the entire telenovela actually doing so.
Ivana played by Gabriela Spanic is not good in this role in my humble opinion. She just played the mean, not very sane girl in high school. With over exaggerated gestures played for comedy and her own brand of sexual aggression that just offended.
Rosendo played by the ever excellent Sergio Goyri who however did not play a great antagonist, just a force of nature acting on his basest impulses. His love for Valentina was not given the foundation it needed , so it seemed to come out of nowhere. It gave it a very contrived feel. Unlike Jacqueline Andere who achieved that antagonist status even with a limited script. Though I would have liked a bit more backstory between her and Rosendo. Not a finale shove-in reveal that everyone had guessed by the 80th episode.
Going to David Zepeda, he was a good addition to the cast. Managed to play both sides, good and bad. He was the only one that had actual stakes in the two main characters not getting together. Had he not been relegated to the stereotypical bad man for Valentina role, this story would have gotten much needed weight.
A show is defined by its secrets and in a successful telenovela the secrets must matter and by matter, I mean impact the main plot and cast. With lasting consequences. Those are the rules. But the secret that the whole show pivoted on Jose Miguel's parentage that ultimately didn't matter to anyone but Jose Miguel and his mother. And he was too good natured at the end to be too bothered by it. His relationship with his mother survived just fine. Let me ask this for people who disagree. If Rosendo had never been Jose Miguel's father, would the plotline have changed? Would anyone have acted differently in the show? I rest my case.
Anyway, looking back on this. I have to reiterate, the chemistry between the leads was one of legend. They had this in their earlier work of Alborada. You will fall in love with both characters and mostly want them to be together. But all the other elements needed for this telenovela to work were non-existent or poorly put together.
