Guevara for a Dolla!

On December 12th, That Dude and I went to go see "Che," the 4.5 hour biopic (supposedly) about the life of revolutionary Ernesto "Che" Guevara. Directed by Steven Soderbergh, this movie is actually two movies, the first called "The Argentine," which makes no sense to me because it is actually all about the Cuban Revolution and nothing about Che, the person (Argentinian in nationality), and the second movie, aptly named, "Guerilla," about his adventures (or only one of them) thereafter, in Bolivia, where he was executed. Now before I further pontificate about the quality or accuracy of the films, I want to share a little bit about the experience.

The movie would be released in New York for one day only, on December 12th, in order to be considered for the Oscars (not worthy). They would have two shows, a 1pm show and a 7pm show. Being the Che Fanboy that I am, I copped tickets online in advance for the 1pm show, thinking that this epic event would be sold out.When That Dude and I reached the theater, there was no one to be found:

People were actually able to walk in and buy tickets at the window, no lines and no hassle. WTF?!? This is Che! Why isn't there an angry mob waving Soviet flags with the Hammer and Sickle wearing CCCP shirts? SLACKIN! So anyway, we get inside the beautiful Ziegfeld theather and find the perfect seats:

After that, we walk around a bit and look at the interesting little things they have set-up outside for the premiere (excuse the poor photography skills, I was too disheartened at this point to care):

Those are photos taken of the actors in character, made to bring extra authenticity to the film and its characters. After watching the film, thoroughly disappointed with the fact that this film did NOTHING for Che's legacy, I bounced, dolo.
"Oh TD, you're taking the N/R? Aight, I'm going to take the A/D Express uptown, but am considering jumping on the tracks. "Peace, my dude."

As can be gleaned from this post, I did not like the movie. Why? I can already hear people saying, "you're angry, that's why." Au contraire, my friend. I probably would have liked the movie if it was called, "The Cuban Revolution and Failed Guerilla War in Bolivia," but it wasn't, this movie was called "Che" and I assumed it would be about Che Guevara. After having read Che's biography, you come to find out that the most important thing about him was his ability to lead by example, quite possibly better than anyone I have ever heard about and what it is that made him that way. In this movie, we see nothing of this development, which is what I believe is the MOST remarkable part about the man. He was the true definition of a leader and was the exact opposite of hypocrisy. He was incredibly intelligent and witty, none of which was seen in the writing of the film or in Del Toro's characterization of Che. Without showing the tremendous strength of his character in the film, how could we be led to believe that this man biked and hitch-hiked through South America, all the way to Mexico, only to link up with Fidel Castro, gain his trust, begin guerrilla training, embark on an old, leaky boat from there to Cuba with 80 men, being only one of 12 who survived the ambush that awaited their arrival, only to rigidly carry out military missions and recruit men for three years in the jungles of Cuba to become one of the principals to seize power in Cubaon New Year's Day 1959? Coming on the heels of the 50th anniversary of that accomplishment, I can think of better ways to learn about this man and all that he did than to watch that movie.(Happy Holidays kids! I will be skiing in Utah for the next week and will hit you up with photos of the splendor of the Rockies upon my return!)