Cesar Chavez 2014

Wesley Morris, Grantland: With Pena, the question is this: Are the movies brave enough to give him the chance he deserves? He's a wonderful Cesar Chavez. Read more

Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: It should have been made 40 years ago, but this biopic about the Mexican-American leader who spearheaded the fight for farmworkers' rights couldn't be more timely. Read more

Kyle Smith, New York Post: "Cesar Chavez" so fervently tries to be virtuous that it risks being dull. Dull it certainly is. But how virtuous? Read more

Peter Debruge, Variety: A passion project about a passionate man takes surprisingly flat form in Cesar Chavez. Read more

A.A. Dowd, AV Club: The problem with Cesar Chavez is that it inches steadily away from a down-to-earth portrayal of its subject, eventually placing him on the very kind of pedestal he never sought to occupy. Read more

Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: It never quite takes off in a stirring, inspirational way, but moves steadily forward in solid fashion. Read more

Peter Keough, Boston Globe: If you can survive Nixon, maybe you can survive anything. But it will take a better movie than this to show how. Read more

Ben Sachs, Chicago Reader: Michael Pena is particularly impressive in the lead, resisting the obvious temptation to make Chavez larger than life. Diego Luna, a fine actor himself, directed, grounding the story in earthy, authentic-seeming detail. Read more

Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor: Biopics about civil rights icons are usually staid affairs. Cesar Chavez, directed by Diego Luna, is no exception. Read more

Lisa Kennedy, Denver Post: Michael Pena brings a centered, beckoning beauty to the title character that manages to speak to Chavez nonviolent approach without becoming hagiographic. Read more

David Rooney, Hollywood Reporter: While the film's old-fashioned virtues and the integrity of its subject matter give it some traction, pedestrian handling, a lumpy script and some significant miscasting mean it only occasionally summons the dramatic power to match the events it depicts. Read more

Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: As a filmmaker, Luna is still finding his voice. For all he effectively puts on screen in "Cesar Chavez," Luna never gets past his respect for the accomplishments to give us a true measure of the man. Read more

Tony Hicks, San Jose Mercury News: It's not filmmaking at its best, but it certainly does a credible job in telling a story that needs telling. Read more

Rafer Guzman, Newsday: Wades only ankle-deep into some complicated territory. Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: The man was a more interesting person than the poster-ready icon presented here. Read more

Jordan Hoffman, New York Daily News: Just as the migrant workers of California deserved better treatment from their bosses, the man who won the labor dispute deserves better treatment than this film. Read more

A.O. Scott, New York Times: A well-cast, well-intentioned movie that falls into the trap that often awaits film biographies of brave and widely admired individuals. Read more

Michael Sragow, Orange County Register: The results can be surprisingly rich, lucid and subtle. Read more

Tirdad Derakhshani, Philadelphia Inquirer: An amateurish mess, with faltering direction and wooden acting. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: The performances are solid but I walked out of the theater thinking I might have been equally edified and entertained reading the man's Wikipedia entry. Read more

Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: The film is always a little bit at a distance, almost involving, always good enough to make us root for it, but rarely better than average. Read more

Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: [Pena] doesn't get to do much more than recite trite adages offered by a disjointed, sometimes inscrutable script. Read more

Bill Zwecker, Chicago Sun-Times: A solid and mostly successful attempt to introduce this important labor leader and civil rights activist to younger audiences, while reminding older folks of the impact Chavez had on this country. Read more

Todd Gilchrist, TheWrap: "Cesar Chavez" embodies the quiet efficacy of its namesake without resorting to the bombastic theatricality he himself avoided. Read more

Claudia Puig, USA Today: Not only powerful but timely, given divided attitudes toward immigration and unionization. Read more

Inkoo Kang, Village Voice: Keir Pearson's script plays out like a highlight reel of the grape strike. It fails to effectively dramatize the slow process of converting ordinary laborers to the workers' cause and of selling the boycott to everyday consumers. Read more

Bilge Ebiri, New York Magazine/Vulture: Cesar Chavez makes for a fine history lesson, but as drama, it leaves something to be desired. Read more