MEET Che Guevara. Just think of him as Jesus plus Abraham Lincoln with a touch of Moses and Dr. Doug Ross. After 4½ hours of watching Dr. Ernesto "Che" Guevara heal the sick, teach the illiterate, daze the women, execute the lawless, defeat the corrupt, uplift the peasantry and spew the sound bite, I was convinced there would be a scene in which he turned water to Bacardi.
You can't spell cliché without "Che." And as I endured this mad dream directed - or perhaps committed - by Steven Soderbergh, I wondered where I'd seen it all before. The booted stomping through the greensward, the jungly target shooting? It's a remake of Woody Allen's "Bananas," right? Minus punch lines - or perhaps with them. "We are in a difficult situation," Che observes, at a point when his army is surrounded and forced to eat its horses.
"From this day on, the official language of San Marcos will be Swedish. Silence! In addition to that, all citizens will be required to change their underwear every half-hour. Underwear will be worn on the outside so we can check. Furthermore, all children under 16 years old are now... 16 years old!"
The story of the Argentine doctor Ernesto "Che" Guevara is played with much broody self-importance by Benicio Del Toro. It will be shown in two parts after its one-week opening run. That way, on consecutive evenings, it can bore everyone but activist grad students.
You have to return for a second day to see the full boring film? This is certainly a great marketing ploy...NOT!
There are banana boats of chitchat about Bolivian mining strikes and agrarian land reform amid messages about how "a true revolutionary is guided by great feelings of love" (that, and Molotov cocktails) and "you have to live as if you've already died." If ever a movie needed Kim Cattrall to slink into the frame, it's this one. "Honey, love the beret, but if anything's to die for, it's the quilted Chanel tote, not toothless Bolivian farmers."
At least Michael Moore will be fascinated by hours of chitchat about Bolivian mining strikes and agrian land reform but not many others.
Part I, set almost entirely in Cuba as Castro and Guevara creep through the jungle, builds to an exciting hand-to-hand fight in the streets, then ends abruptly before our heroes even parade into La Habana, though not before Che can deliver one last lecture on how "I'd rather walk to Havana than drive in a stolen car." (The movie is based on two books - written by Guevara, so we know they're accurate.)
Part II skips the Che/Castro follies in Cuba and Che's adventures in Africa to settle in 1966 Bolivia. Che will spend the next two hours trudging around the mountains changing his name (first he's "Ramon," then "Fernando"), accepting worship ("Could I shake his hand again?" asks a guerrilla junior grade), telling his men he'd rather die than slow them down, taking a break during a bizarre cameo by Matt Damon, and jumping the gun on Del Toro's next gig by gradually proceeding from "unshaven" to "Wolf Man."
This isn't a movie so much as a siege. When the screen flashed "Day 302," I thought it was updating me on how long I had spent in the theater without food, water or access to the Red Cross.
Che, although armed, allows himself to be taken alive, which means an amusing execution in the dust instead of righteous death in battle. Soderbergh (who went native and showed up at the Toronto Film Festival in chunky glasses and arrested-for-vagrancy grooming) takes Che's point of view as the moment of expiration arrives, sharing with us a vision of a blinding white light as the furry comandante slips into Commie heaven. Say hi to the Rosenbergs for me! Fidel says, "See ya soon."
Although it looks like "Che" will end up on most people's Must Miss list, this incredible review is a Must Read. Thanks for providing the entertainment (and reality check) that seems to be completely missing in this movie, Kyle!
H/T: Babalu Blog
—P.J. Gladnick is a freelance writer and creator of the DUmmie FUnnies blog.



















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Comments Policy
I love it! It's long past
December 17, 2008 - 08:57 ET by HockeyKidI love it! It's long past time to put the myth of Che out of our misery.
"Beauty is only skin deep, but liberal's to the bone." - me
There is probably more creativity...
December 17, 2008 - 08:59 ET by on-the-rocksin the review than in the movie.
As for -
..."At least Michael Moore will be fascinated by hours of chitchat about Bolivian mining strikes and agrian land reform but not many others."...
Michael Moore would be enthralled looking for ways to blame the Bolivian mining strikes on the United States, while he considers themes for his next "documentary".
Maybe it's time for Mel Brooks...
December 17, 2008 - 09:05 ET by on-the-rocksto do a movie about the ghost of Che inspiring Fidel and Hugo Chavez and other Western Hemisphere dictators.
Oh! Bama
December 17, 2008 - 09:25 ET by DontFeedTheTrollsOr Che (ghost of commies past) visiting Obama in a cocaine induced dream and telling him to 'Get it right this time, dammit!.'.
D
Keep the ILLEGALS out, join NumbersUSA to send free faxes to your reps.
You can't fall asleep if
December 17, 2008 - 09:41 ET by arkansaszippersYou can't fall asleep if you're snorting coke - everybody knows that.
In part II, Che will
December 17, 2008 - 11:41 ET by RoverIn the sequel, Che will announce that he's really Barak Obama's father.
Rover
Or...
December 17, 2008 - 23:35 ET by RukusOr at least one of them!
Uncle Gary
"Bri is with Jesus now, we will meet again, just not right now. We love you Bri!"
Nah
December 17, 2008 - 09:43 ET by islero47It's time for Mel Brooks to make "Spaceballs II: The Search for More Money." He could squeeze a Che parody in there somewhere. Along with an Obama parody.
*sigh* If only...
Sarah Palin/Jason Lewis 2012
Obama, pathological nacissist: http://www.faithfree...
You're forgetting...
December 17, 2008 - 15:35 ET by RiharA new Mel Brooks movie would require him to write an ending to said movie. As much as I love (most of) his movies, the poor guy couldn't write a good ending to save his life.
However this one could write itself. 100 CIA bullets in Che's body is pretty funny.
When a liberal speaks, the truth is busy elsewhere.
Left out the best part, eh?
December 17, 2008 - 09:26 ET by BlondeNo Che getting his butt run out of Africa?
I prefer Uncle Jimbo's take over on Blackfive...."don't be a DouChe!"
Ten cent "heroes"
December 17, 2008 - 09:46 ET by iveseenitallGood for Mr. Smith. I guess the only way to fight this crap sometimes is with humor. The public schools have spent years glorifying ten cent "heroes" to our kids, allowing no dissent from thinking people. The Barry and Michelle Obamas of the world have been indocrinated with garbage about malcontents who find a way to lead the ignorant "victims" to the promised land of communism or fascist didctatorships. Re-read Animal Farm, and watch the pigs take over. Now they've done it here in America. The next four years are going to be chock full of "change", as we pay through the nose and watch what the promises of these self-absorbed phonies really bring to America. Sad.
NEVER,NEVER trust a "liberal"
"A true revolutionary goes
December 17, 2008 - 09:48 ET by Mean Gene Dr. Love"A true revolutionary goes where he's needed" Isn't that the job description of a mercenary rather than a "revolutionary"?
The trailer is a bunch of disjointed dialogue peppered with explosions. It looked very boring...and trailers usually make films look interesting...at least that's what they're supposed to do. Right?
I am still amazed that with everything we know about people like Che, Castro, and Chavez there are scads of "progressives" that WORSHIP these thugs, tyrants, and murderers.
It's not surprising that this was directed by Steven Soderbergh. He's good buddies with Matt Damon, George Clooney, and other anti-American types...and he's had his hands in directing and producing several "villian is hero" type movies like this one.
"An armed society is a polite society. Manners are good when one may have to back up his acts with his life." --Robert A. Heinlein, "Beyond This Horizon," 1942
Monty Python, Where Are You Now?
December 17, 2008 - 16:23 ET by Wildcatter1980I was thinking how Pythonesque this seemed.
--
Ignorance, our most costly commodity - paraphrased from Rush Limbaugh
Actually two sketches
December 17, 2008 - 16:56 ET by BDActually two sketches remind me of this particular movie:
1.) the "Great Bicycle Tour" by Mr Pither through Cornwall in which Mr Pither meets a amnesiac food scientist named Mr Gulliver who takes him on a jaunt thorugh the Soviet Bloc, complete with firing squads and Ertha Kit impersonations.
2.) If that does not match up to "Che' then obviously the sketch in which the criminal history of Doug and Dimsdale Piranha is examined. The Piranha Brothers, famous for their positive actions towards female imperonators, rapier use of SARCASM, and fear of a gian hedgehod named Spiney Norman, are adequate stand ins for Che and Fidel.
But I could be wrong....
Is Chevy Chase available for a new movie? Of course he is.
December 17, 2008 - 17:31 ET by nkviking75Or perhaps "National Lampoon's Cuban Revolution".
Welcome to the era of unity, you racist!
This is a very awkward sentence.
December 17, 2008 - 22:04 ET by respectfulconservativeThe movie which glorifies the life of communist thug Che Guevara seems
doomed to bomb at the box office since it runs for over 4 very tedious
hours plus the fact that it is yet another in a long line of leftwing
propaganda films promoted by Hollywood that always seem doomed to
failure
I can sleep well tonight
December 17, 2008 - 23:49 ET by ahusserKnowing the run-on/awkward sentence Detective is on the job.
Change: When the winds of change blow hard enough, the most trivial of things can become deadly projectiles. From a Poster
When I Grow Up, I Want To Be A Communist Dictator!
December 18, 2008 - 00:05 ET by Asian ConYou know, it truly boggles the mind how these murdering thugs continue to be worshipped by liberals, the media, and Hollywood. Apparently, all it takes to get a little respect from liberals and Hollywood is to murder millions of innocent citizens, keep millions more under an oppressive thumb and label America as the evil empire. You walk into any store in the malls of America and what do you see? A picture of this MFer plastered on T-Shirts, lunch boxes and posters! If Che can be marketed and slapped on products. Why not Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot, Mao, Ho Chi Min, Ivan The Terrible, Attila The Hun, Nero or Caligula? What's the difference between Che and them? Funny thing is, Che would've hated to see his image on consumer products. He despised America. He was against capitalism.
Do you guys remember, recently, that Target got into some PR trouble when they created a image of Che listening to an IPOD? As if! There was an article by a guy who said, "What's next? How about Hitler youth knives or Pol Pot cookware?"
"For The First Time In My Life, I Am No Longer Proud Of My Country Because It Seems Like, Socialism Has Made A Comeback"
it's easier than that.
December 18, 2008 - 15:45 ET by UndercoverConservativeStart with labelling America as the "Evil Empire" and have some sort of noticeable profile-either small fame or small fortune, and you're done. No real work required.
it's even easier if you just throw a shoe.
"to call an illegal immigrant an "undocumented alien" is the same as calling a streetcorner drug dealer an "unlicensed pharmacist".
"You spend your money anyway you want and respect other's rights to do the same"
I'm embarassed to admit
December 18, 2008 - 01:33 ET by thebutlerdiditI'm embarassed to admit this, but, I was about 25 before I knew the truth about ol' Che. I went to college in the south, Univ. of Alabama, and I had never really learned the ugly liberal side of things in HS. So, here I am in college, and I have this lefty prof, don't know how that one slipped in there, and we learned all about what a great "freedom fighter" he was. The prof even made Castro a somewhat sympathetic figure. Imagine my mortification to be at a book club some years later, can't remember what we were reading, and Che comes up. Everyone is just piling on the tales o' horror about this guy, and I say, well, he was a great freedom fighter, etc,etc. I was put straight quickly, and hied myself off to the library. Imagine now the kids who don't get told the truth, or are too indoctrinated. I have grown kids now, you can bet the first time I saw one of their classmates with a Che shirt I set that story straight!!LOL.
Hey, Don't Feel Bad Butler. . .
December 18, 2008 - 01:52 ET by Asian ConI'm 31 and up until a few years ago, I didn't even know who he was. I thought the guy on the t-shirts was Cesar Chavez. As soon as I found out that he was tight with Castro, that's all I needed to know. Personally, it makes me sick when I see a kid with a Che shirt on. Any teacher who glorifies this thug should have his credentials taken from them and shipped off to Cuba. Then they'll see how "glorious" Cuba really is!
You know, it's cool to worship Che but, don't you dare mention you voted for GWB or, gasp, that you actually like the guy!
"For The First Time In My Life, I Am No Longer Proud Of My Country Because It Seems Like, Socialism Has Made A Comeback"
Book Ideas
December 18, 2008 - 09:22 ET by BlueCat57If they don't already have it under production, Regenery needs to do a Politically Incorrect Guide to Castro and Che. They also need to do a PIG to Communism. Can anyone suggest other titles? How about a PIG to Obama?
→ Do a PIG
December 18, 2008 - 09:25 ET by Cool ArrowA PIG to Islam?
PIG to Islam
December 18, 2008 - 10:05 ET by ckbennetttnThey've already done. The irony of "PIG" to Islam.
http://www.amazon.com/Politically-Incorrect-Guide-Islam-Crusades/dp/0895260131/ref=pd_bbs_sr_9?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1229612593&sr=8-9
“I am the latte-sipping, New York Times-reading, Volvo-driving, no-gun-owning, effete, politically correct, arrogant liberal.” --Barack Obama