The acting by Gael Garcia Bernel, as Ernesto Guevera, is superb—his intense, intelligent gaze makes an introvert somehow interesting. Rodrigo de la Serna plays his buddy, Alberto Granada (he is still alive and living in Cuba). Their heads filled with western knowledge of Greece and Rome and modern medicine, the two set out on an old Norton 500 motorcycle to see South America. They leave a structured, predictable society and enter a strange land where true loves are unfaithful, where Communists and homeless Indians walk down the dusty roads, and where the old oil-guzzling Norton reaches its limit and walking and hitching are the alternatives. Ernesto and his best friend go from loving Argentina to loving South America, go from worrying about medical courses and lab work to feeling the pain of disenfranchised people. This is part of a coming-of-age tale--Ernesto and Alberto before they were movers and shakers.
posted on Sunday, April 15, 2007 4:48 PM by JimBell