Director: Steven Soderbergh (Schizopolis, Out of Sight, Traffic, Bubble, Ocean’s 11-12-13, The Limey )
Story: Ernesto “Che” Guevara
Screenplay: Peter Buchman, Benjamin A. van der Veen
Producers: Steven Soderbergh, Laura Bickford, Benecio Del Toro
Starring: Benecio Del Toro, Demián Bichir, Catalina Sandino Moreno, Franka Potente, Joaquim de Almeida
MPAA Rating: R
Running time: 257 min.

PART ONE (The Argentine):

PART TWO (Guerrilla):

Presenting Che in a roadshow format is not only unorthodox in this day and age, but also refreshing and commendable. The roadshow presentation of course being reminiscent of how the epic films of sorts were presented in their day: overture, part one, intermission, part two, exit music and generally with no credits (a playbill in its stead – of which I did receive one). Of course, it would be much more commendable if Che were as deserving of praise as these movies of yesteryear: e.g. Gone with the Wind or Lawrence of Arabia.

Che is of course split into two parts (of which most of the movie going audience will have to pay twice and see them as two separate screenings). Part one takes place mostly in Cuba and begins with the mere conception of the revolution to overthrow the dictatorship and spans several year through the battles and to the ultimate victory; juxtaposing snippets of Guevara’s later years addressing the U.N. and an overall enveloping candid interview with a reporter (notably played by Julia Ormond). Part two takes place approximately ten years later in South America, specifically Bolivia. Che, as promised, has decided to continue his revolution against dictatorial governments and spread communism as far as he can push it. This time though, Guevara does not have the same support that he did in Cuba and of course he fails. Unfortunately, Part Two is also where the film nearly fails as well.

Part One is vintage Soderbergh. He has a vision for telling the tale not only of Guevara’s struggle and courage, but also the politics and relationships that Guevara forged along the way; and it is realized. The black and white, stock footage feel of the encounter at the U.N. was marvelous and a better understanding of what exactly was at stake and how the people involved (and not involved) in the revolution were affected by the war.

As mentioned above, much of Part One is loosely told by way of an interview Guevara is having with an American journalist; in fact, this is how the film begins and we keep coming back to the interview in order to set up the next scene or get Che’s thoughts on the previous scene. Here is where we get a lot of interesting quotes and ideas from Guevara that really delve into the man and what some might call his genius. He had the potential to say some very profound thoughts and then back up those thoughts and ideals with action. By using this interview device (almost a narration in some respects) Soderbergh gives Che a human quality and something from which the audience can base its understanding of what is taking place on screen and why.

Ironically, this interesting format of setting scene and tone is also the film’s Achilles heel, so to speak. Too much of the story is told by Guevara himself and not enough by Soderbergh. Apparently much of what is on screen is roughly adapted from Guevara’s writings in the field and it just feels like a dreary, nearly redundant version of Part One. With no intercut scenes of Che’s life or beliefs beyond what we see in the military conflict, Part Two of Che just feels like a straight up war picture in which a bunch of people we don’t really know or care about get into one struggle then another then another. For me personally, it would have been much more rewarding and interesting (even if “artistic license” was used) to get to know Guevara (and his family, who is just touched on lightly) a little more; to understand the man and to see why he believes what he believes (as in the interview bits mentioned above in Part One) instead of just watching more battle sequences and the tedium of war between said battles.

And since this is a movie looking at things solely from Guevara’s point of view, little is seen of the more controversial actions of Che and his “brigade.” The film almost seems to put Guevara in a hero’s light, rather than telling the “whole story.” Which of course would be fine, except that it just is not fleshed out as well as it could have been in Part Two. Adding something a little bit more grimy, hard-hitting or tangible to the celluloid may have piqued my interest a little more.

The performances here are all satisfactory, however Del Toro’s seems to be standing out a little bit brighter on most critics radar. I’m not entirely sure why. It’s a great performance to be sure, but I think putting him in the midst of so many other banal characters makes him stick out much more. Not to take away anything from Del Toro, but quite honestly most of his roles are very good and I’m not sure this one stands out any more than the others. It certainly isn’t enough of a stand-out to elect him with an Oscar; not this year anyway (vs Rourke and Penn).

Now for the nit-pick. Everyone in Part 2 looks the same. It’s a bunch of guys who have been in the forest/jungle for weeks and months on end and all have the same facial hair “style” and are all wearing essentially the same clothing/uniform. Not to mention that there are like, twenty of them. I had no idea who was who except for Del Toro, the one woman in the picture and some of the cameos that turn up from time to time (of whom I had no idea who they were or why they were there). So not understanding or even knowing who the protagonists are in the film I’m watching really detracts from the enjoyment level. But maybe that’s just me.

There are scenes that work in Part Two (particularly the final 30 minutes or so), but not enough for me to make a recommendation to anyone. Part One is really where this movie shines and easily could have ended there. I would have no problem telling people to see Part One, then forget paying the additional ten bucks for Part Two, which is essentially the exact same as Part One; sans the depth, juxtapositions of other interesting aspects of Che’s life, artistic merit and he dies at the end.

to Mr. Soderbergh (my favorite living director):
“We expected something… something better than before. We expected something more.”
– - The National