Sadly Over-hyped

Absolutely the worst movie.

There are better movies of two hours length. I loved the actress'performance.

The acting in this movie is really good.

The Motorcycle Diaries is a "road movie" about the journey of a young Ernesto "Che" Guevara and his friend Alberto though South America. On the trip they are deeply impacted by the social and economic injustices they witness, and Che is transformed by the experience that would shape the rest of his life. It's a film about poverty and exploitation, and it's filled with a love for the poor and the masses of people. The film doesn't get into how Che became a famous revolutionary, but rather focuses on his gradual political awakening as he comes to understand the nature of capitalism as a fundamentally oppressive system in which the wealthy benefit from the suffering of the poor. Everywhere Che and Alberto go, in town after town, country after country, that basic formula of oppression is consistent. The Motorcycle Diaries stars Gael García Bernal as Che, and his expressive yet subtle performance keeps the audience engaged in the moment while also giving a hint of the future charismatic revolutionary.

This is a film that wants to paint the picture of Che Gueverra's epiphany. It wants to be important. Brazilian Director Walter Salles (Central Staion) knows the basic approach of telling a chronological story, filled with visuals which tell the audience as much as the dialog. The idea of two friends embarking on a journey that could never be completed on its original terms (travelling South America on an old motorcycle with hardly any funds or plans to earn their way) makes for the small bit of drama we get. And that's the problem. The future history is irrelevant to the movie experience unless you are told otherwise, and we are not. Our lot is an expressed realization of inequity and injustice through roadside interviews, nothing first hand. That's not drama. Our boys struggling to get along despite their circumstances and ideals (one wants justice while the other comically wants women) seems to be what we are left with. Our two leads, Gael Garcia Bernal and Rodrigo de la Serna are compelling and keep our attention as the ultimate road trip duo. The music enchants the scenes bringing you into these travelers shoes, but their minds would never accept events this way. They came from family money and protected upbringings. It is an endearing movie at times but the change that is supposed to be taking place on screen is still somewhere in the writers' screenplay, you would have to believe. And here that's what you have to do.

The film starts with a quote from the book on which the film is based - that this is a story of people and not heroes. Ernesto and Alberto, a biochemist and a medical student, leave their native Argentina to explore South America. They are going to make a trip on motorcycle south and west to Chile where they will turn north through the Andes, across the Peruvian jungles, and on into Venezuela until the Caribbean. They're doing the trip to experience the continent first hand and not just through the literature and film they're used to. The journey starts well as Ernesto visits his girlfriend and Alberto has his own sexcapade. As the journey continues north, the two (and the viewer) see the amazing Chilean Andes. The two run into and get to know locals throughout their journey. They run into motorcycle problems a couple of times. The first time leaves them leaving the town quickly and in hot pursuit, while the second leaves them without a motorcycle completely. The two have encounters on their journey with local farmers, poor boat travelers, and exploring the land of the Incas that show the poverty. They see how many are mistreated due to race, class, and political beliefs. Their exploits in a Peruvian leper colony help bring them the confidence, especially Ernesto, to deal with this inequality.The story is a classic Bildungsroman that leads them from a bourgeois and carefree attitude to one of action and dedication. Its setting in South America and in the 1950s sets it apart from most, and the use of a historical character legitimizes it.There are certainly few films that I truly admire. To witness the transformation of a hero of the common man is one thing. To see the faces of the poor and oppressed and to see the landscape they call home are something else. The movie alone can be seen as a documentary, a portrait, of a continent that I do not know. I see their faces and homes and learn a lot. The plot, this coming of age, really thickens the soup. The handsome and well-acting Gael García Bernal really bring a fresh image to Che. We see him as a man instead of just an image. We are reminded, through the tragic stories of those he encounters in the movie, of why communism, or more poignantly fighting, is a vital action. The film revitalizes the soul through its intimacy and through its full and medium shots of the people often oppressed or forgotten but never at their end. It's a very inspirational film and best appreciated by those willing to leave their comfort for the great beyond.

This is the story of a young boy named ernesto,who was a medical student, and for his last semester intern ship he had to volunteering in a leper colony.and that boy travelled through the entire south America to reach peru to be a volunteer of a leper colony. this movie is based on the road diary written by Che Guevara while his trip, before he became che. Che travelled 14000 kilometre with a byke with his partner Alberto granado and it took around 8 months. while travelling some rural places he witnessed poor people living in a very pathetic condition. he witnessed coal miners having chronic disease. he realized his medical techniques cant solve this problem. he became convinced that the only way to bring about change way by violent revolution. logically this trip drives him to be the most iconic revolutionary in the world. while returning from the trip he includes in his diary "wandering around America has changed me more then i thought, i am not myself any more."