THE MOTORCYCLE DIARIES

Director: Walter Salles (notable career in Brazilian/international cinema)
Starring: Gael Garcia Bernal, Rodrigo de la Serna

An excellent chronicle of a journey Che Guevara took with his best friend through the whole of South America as a youth, this film was (amazingly) not an advertisement for communism. It was a powerful argument for aiding the dowtrodden and cast-aways in society. I am not a communist, not even close, and this film still appealed to me greatly. It's the story of a rich man, with a rich girlfriend, and a rich life, learning to feel for others more than he feels for himself - learning empathy, and learning to act on that empathy. Those are two important steps that few people ever take. What's more, it clearly shows the truth that travel is the straightest path to breaking down fear and erroneous preconceptions of other cultures and peoples. Beyond the story, the acting of the two main characters (Gael Garcia Bernal as Che and Rodrigo De La Serna as his friend) was suberb. Both actors were gripping on the screen. My only major complaint is the occasionally plain screenplay. The flim's climax has Che leaving a party held by doctors and swimming the Amazon river to be with a colony of lepers on the far shore (leaving the bourgeois to be with the downtrodden). While perhaps not an awful metaphor, it was still obvious and sappy enough for me to sigh loudly in the theater. Despite this, this is still one of the better films of the year. Probably not Oscar-worthy though.

Standouts: Fun script. Truly excellent acting: Gael Garcia Bernal, Rodrigo de la Serna.
Blowouts: It's about a communist. Hard to take that seriously.

Grade: A-