After having this movie in my possession for over 4 months and desperate not to have another "Hero" incident, I finally forced myself to find the time to watch this movie. I suppose my motivation for renting it was based both on word of mouth and my tendency to rent foreign films for the hell of it.Unfortunately, my husband is not much of a subtitle fan, so finding the spare time to watch such movies is a bit of an obstacle.
Admittedly, I wasn't entirely sure what to expect from this movie.Based on the diary of Ernesto Guevaro, it chronicles the journey of Ernesto and friend Alberto Granado across South America in the 1950s. It started out well, but after 10 minutes or so, I felt as though I was sitting through a series of scenes involving two guys falling off a motorcycle in various fashions, which subsequently leads to the motorcycle breaking.Sure, there were bits of action in between these falls, but the first hour seemed to be entirely dominated by this. After awhile it was tiring and predictable and slightly painful to watch.
The movie went up in my opinion during the second half. Motorcycle no longer in the picture, it allowed time to see some character development.Combining some absolutely beautiful background scenery with truly interesting characters that Ernesto and Alberto come across in their journey allows for a glimpse of the evolution of Ernesto. At this point, it no longer was about two guys falling off a motorcycle repeatedly, but about the journey and the experience.