Che: Part 1 (2008)

First half of director Steven Soderbergh’s pretentious epic on the life of communist revolutionary Che Guevara. Benicio Del Toro is of course a perfect casting choice as Che, and he does a very admirable job as always, but like everything in this movie Che felt surficy. I mean I spent two hours with the man and I don’t feel I know anything about him. This movie feels like just a bunch of stuff that happens, with some of it being interesting stuff, but you never get inside any of the characters hearts or minds, so you just can’t connect. That and knowing how this valiant revolution, which had a lot of legitimate points on its side, eventually becomes a depressing dictatorship, well its Anakin Skywalker all over again. Well made, and informative on a history level, it’s still doubtless more interesting then almost anything else in theaters now. So 3 out of 5.