Review of Che: Part One (2008) by Andy A — 08 Sep 2009

It's said that Soderbergh loves to switch back-and-forth between the mainstream and his own personal projects, one movie leapfrogging over another in order to strike a good professional balance. This latest epic is a fine testament to his more playful side of directing.

Though its roadshow release was relatively low-key in American theaters because of its run-time, its release on DVD makes the experience a bit easier to swallow since combined it comes out to about 257 minutes.

But altogether, those of you looking for a dense, complex biopic will be somewhat disappointed. The director thankfully made the artistic concession to film the entire thing in the native language, but for the most part, other than a few "Hey look! It's Fidel Castro!" moments of recognition, the story of one of the most easily recognizable revolutionaries of all time felt like a cursory treatment.

There is almost nothing to say of his past and, through much of the movie, little to say about his present. I guess only Part II will reveal that. Still, the lack of complexity was a bit unsettling and the portrait felt more like a canonization than an even-handed biography.

But that's not to say the movie its without merit. Del Toro vindicates himself and his Best Actor win @ Cannes with his humble performance as Guevara and Soderbergh's sweeping cinematography captures the guerrilla movement with a grand scope and an eye for details (though the action is somewhat low-intensity if you're into that whole hand-held thing).