The Motorcycle Diaries Film Review

The Motorcycle Diaries, directed by Walter Salles, is a visually stunning movie about the travels of a young Che Guevara and his older friend Alberto Granado. It’s based on the book written by Guevara himself, and it got a fairly positive critical response.

To start off, the movie has great scenery, great acting, great dialogue, and just quality production overall. The character’s interactions are natural, entertaining, and sometimes hilarious. Everyone was well casted, with Gael Garcia Bernal playing a believable Che Guevara. While there wasn’t anything terribly dramatic, the acting was good for what it was. The movie’s real strength was its writing. The flowing dialogue kept the movie interesting and dynamic, saving otherwise boring scenes. But good dialogue doesn't necessarily make a good movie, and it's underlying themes left more to be desired.

The movie never really blew me away because it saves the inner journey of Guevara for the end, filling the rest of the movie with motorcycle crashes and dancing. And that’s not too bad, but when the end does come it isn’t very effective. The black and white images of the men and women stuck in poverty remind me of a sad commercial asking for donations. Sure it was sad, but it was only worth a commercial, not an entire movie. On top of that, Salles never takes any time to develop any characters at all. The two main characters are so blatantly oversimplified it’s ridiculous. Guevara is portrayed as a perfect young hero who is very honest and determined, while Granado is a horny, lying, funny guy who is basically just there to make Guevara look better. Other than those two there are no characters worth mentioning, which is disappointing because there were so many opportunities. Che’s girlfriend, Chichina, is as close as the movie gets to adding a full third character. Which isn’t very close. And while there are many other people Guevara and Granado meet along the way, pretty much all of them are nameless and impersonal.

Without reading the book, the movie wouldn't be nearly as meaningful. Che’s inner thoughts and motives are never touched on, and the brutal details of the poverty he told of in the book were left out (probably to keep the targeted audience). Like I said before, there also could have been a lot more character development and complexity even in just Guevara and Granado. Really the movie sacrifices the most moving elements of the book to produce a more enjoyable watching experience for the general public. Which is fine because the movie is very fun to watch. But for the full story I would suggest reading the book, preferably first. Without it the movie just isn't as meaningful. The extreme poverty and inequality Che wrote about in the book, along with his thoughts along the way, are barely touched on in the movie. And those were the things that made the book important in the first place.

Overall, most of the film is just two men traveling around South America, and it basically just cashes in on Che's name. In the movie Guevara could be replaced with any other traveler, it just wouldn’t be as intriguing to watch. The film also removes the first person narration that was in the book, making the adventure much less personal. Even so, the entertaining dialogue, beautiful scenery, and solid acting make it well worth watching. It's just not worth thinking about afterwards.