Che (Part One/Part Two)

[Brian in Mesa]

Che

Release Date: December 12, 2008 (NY & LA for one week; NY, LA release: Jan. 9; expands: Jan. 16; expands: Jan. 24)
Studio: IFC In Theaters
Director: Steven Soderbergh
Screenwriter: Peter Buchman, Benjamin A. van der Veen
Genre: Drama
MPAA Rating: R (for some violence)
Running Time: Part One - 129 min./Part Two - 128 min
Website: N/A

Starring: Benicio Del Toro, Demian Bichir, Victor Rasuk, Edgar Ramirez, Rodrigo Santoro, Yul Vazquez, Rene Lavan, Catalina Sandino Moreno, Elvira Minguez, Unax Ugalde, Santiago Cabrera

Plot Summary: On November 26, 1956, Fidel Castro sails to Cuba with eighty rebels. One of those rebels is Ernesto "Che" Guevara, an Argentine doctor who shares a common goal with Fidel Castro - to overthrow the corrupt dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista.

Che proves indispensable as a fighter, and quickly grasps the art of guerrilla warfare. As he throws himself into the struggle, Che is embraced by his comrades and the Cuban people. The film tracks Che's rise in the Cuban Revolution, from doctor to commander to revolutionary hero.

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[Gaddabout]

When I first heard about this movie, the comparisons to Medellin from Entourage were overwhelming. You have:

- A movie about a Latino liberator and cult hero
- Starring an actor with a somewhat sketchy history as a lead
- Directed by an indie director famous for often times excruciating slow-pace editing, who's had better success with big budget Hollywood movies than his own artistic efforts.

News from Cannes has been very mixed. The most reasonable review I've read is, "Che is a movie with a lot of beautiful working parts that don't yet work together." Another reviewer compared it to watching a clock tick ... a Swiss clock with amazing engineering, but it's still watching a clock tick. It's, I guess, a very naturalized, chronological rendering of the man's life, which is disappointing. Why make a movie about such a 20th Century historical giant if you're not going to attempt to explain what was going on in the man's head? There's no shortage of material to take a side and run with it, credibly, as a writer, director, and/or editor.

I like Soderbergh, but I'm just OK with del Toro as Che. I'm still looking forward to this. Just not entirely clear what I should anticipate ... probably four hours by myself, as I can't imagine selling my wife or friends on watching it with me.

 

[Mulli]

I cannot forgive Soderbergh for The Good German. Not yet anyway.

I hope he includes Che presiding over the death squads. Che is not so romantic if you include some of what really happened.

In my opinion.

 

[abomb]

This movie had been on the shelf for a very long time.

 

[Mulli]

This movie had been on the shelf for a very long time.

Since Del Toro wasn't too old?

 

[Gaddabout]

Che is not so romantic if you include some of what really happened.

Indeed. 60s counter-culture fell in love with the exiled, reflective Che, not Che the gun-wielding nut job.

 

[Mulli]

Indeed. 60s counter-culture fell in love with the exiled, reflective Che, not Che the gun-wielding nut job.

Jerkyface jerks who wear his t-shirts should be rounded up...

just kidding.

 

[Louis]

Motorcycle Diaries was an excellent film (with Gael Garcia Bernal starring) about Che in his early years. Hopefully this can be a nice book end to that film, even though there is no relation to either film.

Like Gadda, I anticipate spending 4 hours over a weekend watching the DVD when this is released.

 

[Bada0Bing]

When I first heard about this movie, the comparisons to Medellin from Entourage were overwhelming. You have:

- A movie about a Latino liberator and cult hero
- Starring an actor with a somewhat sketchy history as a lead
- Directed by an indie director famous for often times excruciating slow-pace editing, who's had better success with big budget Hollywood movies than his own artistic efforts.

News from Cannes has been very mixed. The most reasonable review I've read is, "Che is a movie with a lot of beautiful working parts that don't yet work together." Another reviewer compared it to watching a clock tick ... a Swiss clock with amazing engineering, but it's still watching a clock tick. It's, I guess, a very naturalized, chronological rendering of the man's life, which is disappointing. Why make a movie about such a 20th Century historical giant if you're not going to attempt to explain what was going on in the man's head? There's no shortage of material to take a side and run with it, credibly, as a writer, director, and/or editor.

I like Soderbergh, but I'm just OK with del Toro as Che. I'm still looking forward to this. Just not entirely clear what I should anticipate ... probably four hours by myself, as I can't imagine selling my wife or friends on watching it with me.

Recently watched it. This review is dead on. While watching I was thinking how much better this would be if I had read some books on Che, because the film doesn't explain what is going on in the guy's head. I would love to watch a John Adams (HBO) type miniseries on him.

 

[Zeno]

I hope he includes Che presiding over the death squads. Che is not so romantic if you include some of what really happened.

In my opinion.

It always galls me to see people wearing his face on t-shirts or worse was seeing the Tucson school official with a poster of him in his office. Che was not a good man by any stretch.

 

[MrYeahBut]

I enjoyed it, it did help that my Spanish is passable. I agree that it was terribly deliberate and really didn't say enough about his inner workings. I found it of equal interest about how Castro managed to take control as well.