Mobile
Friday, February 27, 2009
Film / News Che: Close, but no (Cuban) cigar
Posted By Matt Brunson on Fri, Feb 27, 2009 at 3:06 PM
By Matt Brunson
CHE
**1/2
DIRECTED BY Steven Soderbergh
STARS Benicio Del Toro, Catalina Sandino Moreno
In some cities, director Steven Soderbergh's epic look at revolutionary Ernesto "Che" Guevara has been screened as two separate films: Che: Part One (subtitled The Argentine during production) and Che: Part Two (Guerilla). Locally, however, we're getting the whole enchilada in one 4-1/2-hour version. But whether viewed in one or two sittings, the fact remains that Soderbergh's ambitious but erratic film wastes its generous running time by failing to really burrow beneath the media myth, determined not to provide much insight into the individual whose iconic image has adorned countless T-shirts and posters.
The first half boasts the stronger material, as the idealistic Che (commandingly played by Benicio Del Toro) helps Fidel Castro (Demian Bichir) and his gang of rebels overthrow the Batista regime in 1950s Cuba. The second half, which finds Che taking the revolutionary road to Latin America, becomes bogged down in repetitious material, with all the additional jungle treks, gun battles and soldiers' squabbles adding nothing except minutes to the length.
Matt Damon turns up in a cameo that's about as brief (and pointless) as his blink-and-you-miss-him appearance in Francis Coppola's Youth Without Youth.
If nothing else, this moderately engaging film has only increased my desire to see 1969's Che! (starring Omar Sharif as Che and Jack Palance as Castro), a colossal dud that's reportedly one of the all-time worsts. At least that's some sort of distinction; this Che, on the other hand, remains resolutely middle-of-the-road.
Speaking of...
-
Computer Science And Photography – Matthew Mills a Photographer in NYC Explains This Unlikely Pairing
Nov 22, 2020 -
Imagicomm Entertainment to Make Blue Ridge Available on Multiple Platforms
Oct 15, 2020 -
The Moffett Restaurant Group Celebrates the 20th Anniversary of Barrington’s Restaurant
Oct 12, 2020 - More »
Latest in The CLog
More by Matt Brunson
-
Fanning flames of expectation
Apr 26, 2019 -
That burning sensation
Apr 19, 2019 -
Gentle giant
Apr 19, 2019 - More »
-
Riverkeeper fishing for metal
Expects to reveal the results in fewer than nine years.
-
Today's Top 5: Wednesday
Here are the five best events going down in Charlotte and the surrounding area today.
-
A cop who curses? Charlotte is shocked!!
