I've seen some pro critics call this film boring, and although it might have had 1 or 2 slow spots, I found it overall to be a powerful biopic of the iconic union organizer and civil rights advocate Cesar Chavez.
Michael Pena gives a fine performance as Chavez here, as the movie focuses on his early days as a farm worker organizer, in the 1960's in California, to his eventual negotiations with the powerful farm growers of the time. America Ferrera also ably portrays Chavez's wife Helen, who is equally dedicated to their cause. Additionally, there's a strong supporting cast which includes Rosario Dawson, John Malkovich, Jacob Vargas, and John Ortiz.
The biopic intersperses well actual film footage of the time, but we only get a glimpse of the real Chavez, who died in 1993 at the age of 66, towards the end of the movie. I thought the film portrayed well the conflicts and tensions you would expect between the farm workers and the powerful growers, the police, and certain politicians.
During an effective grape boycott called by Chavez and his supporters, then Governor Ronald Reagan is shown publicly eating grapes and calling the boycott "immoral". Also, President Richard Nixon tried to influence the export of grapes to European markets to help the growers, but strong European unions in support of Chavez crushed that idea.
To editorialize a bit here, I find it so ironic that some 50 years later, we seem to be fighting the same battles that Chavez fought, with the rights of unions to organize and collectively bargain. While it is true that along the way some unions got greedy and went too far in their demands, I think that history has clearly shown that many corporations left to their own devices will squeeze their workers in pay and benefits unless there's some push back from organizations like unions.
Overall, I thought this movie was very well presented by director Diego Luna and screenwriters Keir Pearson and Timothy J. Sexton. It's an important story that remains, as mentioned, so timely to this day.
Michael Pena gives a fine performance as Chavez here, as the movie focuses on his early days as a farm worker organizer, in the 1960's in California, to his eventual negotiations with the powerful farm growers of the time. America Ferrera also ably portrays Chavez's wife Helen, who is equally dedicated to their cause. Additionally, there's a strong supporting cast which includes Rosario Dawson, John Malkovich, Jacob Vargas, and John Ortiz.
The biopic intersperses well actual film footage of the time, but we only get a glimpse of the real Chavez, who died in 1993 at the age of 66, towards the end of the movie. I thought the film portrayed well the conflicts and tensions you would expect between the farm workers and the powerful growers, the police, and certain politicians.
During an effective grape boycott called by Chavez and his supporters, then Governor Ronald Reagan is shown publicly eating grapes and calling the boycott "immoral". Also, President Richard Nixon tried to influence the export of grapes to European markets to help the growers, but strong European unions in support of Chavez crushed that idea.
To editorialize a bit here, I find it so ironic that some 50 years later, we seem to be fighting the same battles that Chavez fought, with the rights of unions to organize and collectively bargain. While it is true that along the way some unions got greedy and went too far in their demands, I think that history has clearly shown that many corporations left to their own devices will squeeze their workers in pay and benefits unless there's some push back from organizations like unions.
Overall, I thought this movie was very well presented by director Diego Luna and screenwriters Keir Pearson and Timothy J. Sexton. It's an important story that remains, as mentioned, so timely to this day.