In the beginning (well kind of)

So the much anticipated follow-up project of the producer and writers of Cuando me Enamoro premiered on March 6th. As of today its been a little over a month since the premiere of Amor Bravio. The following is a rundown and reaction of the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Prologue:

To understand why I'm even interested in Amor Bravio, we have to start from the beginning. I won't deny that I completely got swept off of my feet with the intrigue, drama, and good old-fashioned romance that saturated Cuando me Enamoro. The gorgeous backdrop of northern Baja's wine country coupled with the undeniable chemistry between stars Silvia Navarro and Juan Soler sealed the deal. And while it ran a bit long in my opinion (181 total episodes), I still cared about Los Hermosos, as fans came to call the protagonist couple, and all the happenings in the hacienda La Bonita.

The perfect couple (Navarro & Soler)

Back in October it was announced that the producer, Carlos Moreno, would be starting a new project which would be a rehashing of the previously done and very successful Pura Sangre (back in the 80s). The location (a ranch that raises toros the lidia a.k.a bulls destined for the ring) irked me and continues to do so, but the writers and the producers swore up and down that no violence would be shown. Whatever. I wasn't too interested in the story but the confirmation that Silvia Navarro would star in the project forced me to follow developments closely.

Originally, it was rumored that she would appear alongside Sebastian Rulli. And while he's not my favorite actor, he's good-looking and competent. I could see it working. Somewhere along the line and at someone's insistence, Cristian de la Fuente was cast instead. That was the first big strike against this production. The guy may be a charming person with an enviable physique, but as an actor he is mediocre at best. Besides, after 28 episodes I have yet to detect any noticeable chemistry between he and Navarro. That's not a good sign. I'm sorry, but being in love and being in lust are two completely different things. I thought that was obvious, but apparently that's news to the writers.

So now on to the fun part....

The Good:

Silvia Navarro

• Silvia Navarro: Hands down one of the best talents in Mexico and not just on the silver screen. She's proven herself both in movies and on stage. She embodies a sense of genuine emotion and freshness. She cries like nobody else can. She makes me cry, and that's an extremely rare feat.
• The majority of the supporting cast:
• Leticia Calderon
• Cesar Evora
• Jose Carlos Ruiz
• Rene Strickler
• Jose Elias Moreno
• Flavio Medina 
• Rogelio Guerra

 

 

The Gray:

• Theme song: Don't get me wrong, I think that Vicente Fernandez is by far THE best singer of rancheras bar to none. The song, Cuando Manda el Corazon, is okay, and actually after a while it grows on you. It just doesn't seem to pack the punch that I would have expected for such a supposedly passionate story. And after "el himno" of Enrique Iglesias' "Cuando Me Enamoro", everything else seem to pale in comparison.
• The plot: Girl is unhappily married to a jerk. Other guy is happily married but tragedy strikes. He thinks the girl did it and goes to seek revenge incognito. Guy arrives and despite his best efforts falls in love with girl. Girl falls in love with guy. Together they fight against the bad guys and they live happily ever after. Really? Even if it is a melodrama, what ever happened to creativity?

The Bad:

• The logo and opening credits: I was eagerly anticipating the opening credits for over two weeks and considering how raging, wild bulls offers such a rich and powerful visual element, you'd think that they couldn't go wrong, right? Well, surprisingly enough they present us with one of the most uninspiring and lazy opening credits which simply recycles actual scenes from the show. Two minutes and that's the best that they could come up with, seriously? I guess they figured that we'd be too entertained with the moving picture frames to care. Also, isn't the logo a bit juvenile looking?

• Cristian de la Fuente: As I mentioned earlier, he seems to be a nice person, but as an actor he just doesn't cut it. There have been a number of scenes that required for finesse and a greater subtlety in acting that he just hasn't proven himself to be capable of. His sub-par acting is made even more obvious when he has to act next to such a high caliber cast. I think that while one can take classes and learn how to be a good actor, the talent itself has to be something innate to the individual. Classes can nourish it, but they can't create it. In the case of de la Fuente, he just wasn't born with it. Sorry. 

Why the insistence of the producer and writers to have precisely de la Fuente when so many other actors were available? Here are a few of my educated guesses:

1. Somebody lost a bet
2. They (the production team) were high
3. They were bribed
4. The bulk of their budget went to paying the rest of the quality talent and its wasn't until later that they realized that they still needed to find a male actor on a budget.
5. They actually thought that he was good. No, seriously.

Who should have been  Daniel/Andres?

Mark Tacher

Sebastian Rulli

Fernando Colunga

• Pacing: Its ridiculously uneven. First, instead of developing decent backstories for the characters, they speed through pivotal parts of the story line. Raw emotional scenes that merit closer analysis are glossed over without so much as a second thought. In contrast, long drawn out and implied parts of the storyline are unnecessarily force fed to the viewers. I have a love hate relationship with writer Marta Carrillo.  I think that she's under the impression that viewers have the IQ of a rock. Many times she writes things that are simply against character and defy logic. When she writes something good its really good, but when she mucks things up, not even a talented cast can salvage the mess. She almost sabotaged her own project when Cuando me Enamoro went haywire thanks to its extended run time. Presently, she mucking up this project. Between episode one and episode 27 it feels like a world of difference not only chronologically, but in quality.

In closing....

If I haven't managed to scare you off yet, check out the trailer. As is the case with most trailers, it ends up looking better than the actual product (at least as of now). Pity.