"The Motorcycle Diaries" (2004)

(Originally released as Diarios de Motocicleta)

First, the lowdown: A biochemist and medical student travel throughout South America.

Ernesto “Fuser” Guevara (before he was called “Che”) and Alberto Granado are two friends seeking some last-minute adventure before graduating from medical school. A colleague of one of Alberto’s teachers has a lead on a residency position they can fill, at a leper colony in Peru. Rather than taking a plane or some other speedy method of conveyance, the pair instead relies on a rickety 1939 Norton motorcycle to carry them to their destination.

I’m not terribly abreast of the history of “Che” Guevara. Other than the fact he had a hand in the Cuban revolution and that his image is considered an icon for armchair revolutionaries, there’s not much I know or have read about the man. This is probably why I’m coloring my review the way I am. Outside of the whole “he grew up to free Cuba” subtext of the movie, “The Motorcycle Diaries” comes off as a weak attempt to emulate Wim Wender’s road movies, with obligatory scenes where “Fuser” is faced with the oppression of the lower classes to embolden his revolutionary thought.

The movie looks pretty at least, without resorting to anything terribly experimental. Ernesto and Alberto explore the awe-inspiring Macchu Picchu in a scene with very little talking, save for the diary’s narration. The oppressed peasants that “Fuser” encounters are burned into his memory in a sequence of black and white shots. Each country they visit has a distinctive “feel” to it.

But in conclusion, if it weren’t for the fact that “Fuser” would later become “Che”, what you have is a pretty movie where two friends hit the open road for adventure and chase tail, and eventually end up at a leper colony where they inspire the staff and the infirmed. Without the prior knowledge of how important our leads (or at least one of them) were to be, there isn’t enough characterization here to give a damn about them. In fact, the outgoing and frequently bellicose Alberto seems to have more solidity to his character than the soft-spoken and vaporous Ernesto.

Line of the movie: “You gotta fight for every breath and tell death to go to hell.”

Three and a half stars. I want a pony.