The Motorcycle Diaries

In the 1950s, a young Che Guevara (Gael Garcia Bernal) goes on a motorcycle trek through South America, witnessing poverty and disease and developing the ideals that would make him a famous revolutionary. His trek takes him through Chile and Venezuela, and ends up in a leper colony where he sees the life of the truly oppressed. Bernal’s performance is excellent, including some horrifying depictions of near-fatal asthma attacks (Guevara had the illness). This film feels a bit long at times, but Bernal and Rodrigo de la Serna as traveling partner Alberto make for a good screen team. De la Serna provides decent comic relief. The film is somewhat entertaining and engaging, while also managing to be a bit boring.