As a student of the Cuban Revolution, I was curious to see it portrayed in film. Ultimately, "Fidel" was a let down. The first part of the movie, showing the revolutionizing of Fidel Castro, was very interesting, but once the revolution was over I quickly grew bored. And I was only halfway through the film. The main problem for me was too much dialogue and not enough action. And about 80% of that dialogue seemed to belong to Fidel. Understandably, the movie is about Fidel Castro, and I suppose I shouldn't expect otherwise, but the result was that other characters seemed more like scenery than real people. As a fan of both Che Guevara and Gael Garcia Bernal, I was especially interested in his character. However, I was left especially disappointed by Che's one-dimensional portrayal. It is probable that the other supporting characters were similarly portrayed incompletely, but Che was the most glaring for me since I have studied his history more closely.
On the plus side, this movie neither glorifies nor demonizes Fidel Castro excessively, providing a basic and even-handed (although not always completely accurate) summary of the Cuban Revolution if you are someone who knows nothing about it. But from an entertainment standpoint, "Fidel" is long-winded and rather dull.
Oh, and what really bothered me was that the dialogue should have been in Spanish with subtitles! I suppose English language makes it more accessible to the American audience it was intended for, but it was weird for me.
On the plus side, this movie neither glorifies nor demonizes Fidel Castro excessively, providing a basic and even-handed (although not always completely accurate) summary of the Cuban Revolution if you are someone who knows nothing about it. But from an entertainment standpoint, "Fidel" is long-winded and rather dull.
Oh, and what really bothered me was that the dialogue should have been in Spanish with subtitles! I suppose English language makes it more accessible to the American audience it was intended for, but it was weird for me.