We see:
- Michael Peña ("End of Watch" and "American Hustle") does a capable but strangely non-charismatic job of portraying our eponymous hero. I'm a fan of Peña's, but ...maybe it's the direction?
- Rosario Dawson ("Gimme Shelter" and "Zookeeper") is front and center as Dolores Huerta, the dynamic co-founder of the United Farmworkers' Union.
- America Ferrera ("Under the Same Moon" and "Ugly Betty") is wonderful as Peña's stalwart wife, Helen.
- John Malkovich ("Red 1 & 2") demonstrates his multilingual skills by pronouncing the "v" in "Chavez" as a "b" which is correct; made me smile... His character is affiliated with the growers and disagrees with his attorney son who wants to negotiate. He thinks it's a big waste of college tuition. He too, is an immigrant, although the script doesn't explain.
- Jack Holmes ("Live at the Foxes Den") doesn't really look like Robert Kennedy, but the voice is spot on!
Sometimes the soundtrack seems muted, particularly during the scenes that surround his hunger strike, so if you have a hearing problem, find a theater that offers Closed Captions. Perhaps Oscar-nominated script- writers Keir Pearson and Timothy J. Sexton did a better job than I thought; maybe I just couldn't hear the dialogue. Somehow, this just didn't seem to generate the passion and excitement I expected. In my opinion, it deserves better.
Our Latino population has discretionary money to spend on movies that interest and entertain them. Look at the phenomenal success of "Instructions Not Included" ("No se Aceptan Devoluciones") in 2013. I own that DVD and love it! The last I heard, at $65M, it was the top-earning Spanish language film in American history.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Here is a preview of Cesar Chavez:
http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi1049275161/
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Here is a preview of Cesar Chavez:
http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi1049275161/
* * * * * * * * * * * *