Photo Credit: Lionsgate Films
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What do you do when you love something too much? That seems to be at the heart of the troubles that comprise the admirable but flawed biopic Cesar Chavez.
Told by a group of filmmakers and actors who clearly revere the central subject of their story, the film works as a historical narrative of Chavez’s struggle to establish workers’ rights, but never quite gets rid of the halo it seems to have firmly implanted above Chavez’s head. Many historical figures – even ones like Martin Luther King, Jr., Abraham Lincoln, Gandhi, Margaret Thatcher, Freida Pinto, even Jesus – all get sainted by the conventional wisdom around their legacies. But these depictions often times translate to one-note and flat portrayals on screen, with too many of them reduced to the predictable foibles of being ‘heroic’. That’s what happens to Chavez.
The primary struggle in the film apart from Chavez’s very visceral head-to-head combat with American presidents Nixon and Reagan is that of the relationship he shares with his son. His son is forever carping that his father cares more about the social struggle of migrant workers and illegal aliens than he does for his own children – and he’s right.
But the movie brushes aside Chavez’s priorities and family life to make him a golden hued crusader. It all plays well, but feels much too muted. Chavez deserved better.
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