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Amanda is every man's dream- she's beautiful. She's also a brilliant architect, un-frivolous, fiercely loyal, and somewhat old-fashioned. She expects the same from the men in her life, but, alas, her boyfriend cheats on her and her boss can't get past looking at her skirt.

After scaring her wayward boyfriend with a shotgun, she decides to leave the Chilean capital of Santiago and head for the smaller city of Valparaíso. This time, she intends to avoid further looks-related problems by disguising herself as an unattractive woman (This part of the movie really spoke to me. Women never taking me seriously, seeing me only as some kind of sex-god).

She gets a job as an architect based solely on her excellent resume and promptly proves her bona fides by doing something with radio waves and pipes that I don't understand (something about VP1).

Her co-workers include the pretty Karen (Amaya Forch), the noble, nerdy family man Guillermo (Rodrigo Muñoz), and Marcello or, as he likes to be called, "Marchello" (Marcelo Mazzarello), a lady-killing, sock-stuffing lothario.

When Marcello, Guillermo, and Amanda celebrate their pipe-work, Marcello, completely uninterested in Amanda, barrages her with the most anti-family-values philosophy south of Jack Nicholson.

It's here that Amanda cautions Marcello that one day it's he who will fall victim to love and decides to teach Marcello a lesson. She stunningly, sexily, decks herself out; calls herself "Helena" after the Tojaness; and, with the benefit of advanced intel, uses her every wile to turn Marcello into a slobbering fool.

Marcello continues to confide in the ugly Amanda. The advice-seeking begets a friendship-Marcello's first platonic relationship with a woman- which begets a pure love which...

These parts of the movie feature some very funny battle-of-the-sexes dialog, first with Marcello's chauvinist ruminations and then with his bumbling seduction attempts.

As Marcello reforms, Amanda too falls for him and things proceed in the normal fashion.

Or does it? In one of the scenes, Amanda has Marcello cross-dress and tie himself up. Having placed Marcello in a vulnerable position, Amanda, like some Lorena Bobbit-feminist vigilante, seeks revenge for the pain men have caused her over her life. This possible turning from Latin-American novela to Euro-weird nihilism gives the movie some legitimate suspense.

I give it extra credit for its rare South American setting, excellent acting all around, and fluid story arc.

Politics/ Message:

Conservative culture watchers and women seeking mates are familiar with the term "man-boy" used for a man who refuses to grow up- a drinker of free milk, as it were. The movie implies that somebody can cure man-boyhood by showing him some children or having him fall in love with "the one." Or, a man will cure oneself once he realizes that he's being immature.

The writers, wafting the fumes of Christian culture, ignore the reason why so many man-boys exist in the first place: Most men still able to attract beautiful women only behave "maturely" when they have a reason to do so, not because they naturally prefer fatherhood life over swingerhood. In the Western world, Christianity or Judaism has provided that motivation either directly or through the societal pressure based upon them. With the decline of faith, it's hold on men has decreased. Thus "fumes" and thus the state of the Western world. Either that, or more men in nineteenth century had friends explain how immature they were.

Amanda confides in a priest which is usually pro-religion, however, one of the priests drinks from the communion cup and another is interested in the size of Marcello's appendage. Neither corruption is a deal-breaker for her.

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