Critics Scoreboard
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Average Critic Score:
75
(37 sources)
75
(37 sources)
-
100
Christian Science Monitor
One thing few will disagree on is the quality of the film's acting, especially by Gael García Bernal as Guevara and Rodrigo de la Serna as his friend. Both effortlessly embody the footloose, sometimes feckless quality of this "On the Road"-style adventure. Read Full Review » -
100
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100
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100
Portland Oregonian
The result is a rare and precious work. The Motorcycle Diaries is an epic road movie with everything you'd want from such a film: laughs, kicks, adventures, pathos, poetry, natural beauty, strange encounters and friendship tested and strengthened. Read Full Review » -
100
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90
Dallas Observer
Provides a smart, insightful prologue to the career of the man who continues to inspire countless people around the world. Read Full Review » -
90
The New York Times
Mr. Bernal's soulful, magnetic performance notwithstanding, the real star of the film is South America itself, revealed in the cinematographer Eric Gautier's misty green images as a land of jarring and enigmatic beauty. Read Full Review » -
90
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88
USA Today
More coming-of-age story than biopic, this Guevara odyssey is a transformative adventure well worth watching. Read Full Review » -
88
Rolling Stone
A mesmerizing look at an asthmatic, rich-boy medical student in the act of discovering his insurgent spirit. Read Full Review » -
88
Chicago Tribune
Salles' movie isn't fiery or didactic. It doesn't rage or storm. Salles romanticizes the youthful Ernesto. Read Full Review » -
88
Philadelphia Inquirer
A steady, soulful film experience. It's got poetry to it - the poetry of humanity. Read Full Review » -
83
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Captures the lovely, heart-and-eye-opening ode to youthful possibility with affection and compassion. Read Full Review » -
80
Washington Post
The movie's not heavyhanded about this coming of moral age; the revelations unfurl in subtle ways. What Bernal and this well-wrought movie convey so well is the charisma that would soon become a part of human history. Read Full Review » -
80
Salon.com
There is a balancing act at work here that sometimes makes the film seem too careful, but I found it a lovely and supremely moving experience, a haunting symphony in a minor key if not a knock-your-socks-off masterpiece. Read Full Review » -
80
Variety
This intelligently made picture is artful but not arty, political without being didactic. Read Full Review » -
80
Film Threat
Subtle, funny and touching. It’s not like a blow-by-blow “Birth of a Hero” type of film. The script is near perfect and the acting is spot on. Read Full Review » -
80
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80
Wall Street Journal
A convincing, entertaining portrait of the revolutionist as a young man. Read Full Review » -
80
The New Republic
Nothing like a full picture of Che--nor of Granado and his eventual scientific career in Cuba, for that matter. But it exhilarates with the spirit of these young men in Act One of their lives. Read Full Review » -
75
New York Daily News
There is no great story being told here. Mostly, it is a conventional road movie - a buddy comedy even - about the quests of two likable guys. The memoirs exist only because of Guevara's subsequent fame as a revolutionary leader in Cuba, Congo and Bolivia. Read Full Review » -
75
Premiere
Some might not even notice what's going on when director Walter Salles finally shows his hand, and ends the film with documentary footage of the real-life Granado, now aged 81, romping in the earthly paradise that is present-day Cuba. Read Full Review » -
75
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70
Newsweek
It's a picturesque tale that, hobbled by its episodic structure, never achieves full steam. Read Full Review » -
70
Washington Post
Surprisingly effective re-creation of a Latin American Bing and Bob on the Road to History. Read Full Review » -
70
TV Guide
The film works best when it doesn't try so hard, when Salles simply allows his excellent actors and his beautiful images to work their magic. Read Full Review » -
70
The Onion (A.V. Club)
Handsomely shot by Brazilian director Walter Salles and beautifully played by the two leads, The Motorcycle Diaries would amount to little more than a minor, softly politically conscious coming-of-age story, if not for its historical context. Read Full Review » -
70
The Hollywood Reporter
A smartly scoped story of great personal growth and transformation. It's not hard to see the personality/political basis for Che's later revolutionary actions. Read Full Review » -
67
Austin Chronicle
"Dr. Goodlove," or "How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Proletariat" might have been a better title for this ingratiatingly loopy origin story about prerevolutionary icon Ernesto "Che" Guevara. Read Full Review » -
63
Boston Globe
For a movie, this feels inadequate, despite its splendors and, later, its social dismay. It does, however, have the makings of a grand postcard. Read Full Review » -
63
Chicago Sun-Times
Seen simply as a film, The Motorcycle Diaries is attenuated and tedious. We understand that Ernesto and Alberto are friends, but that's about all we find out about them; they develop none of the complexities of other on-the-road couples, like Thelma and Louise, Bonnie and Clyde or Huck and Jim. There isn't much chemistry. Read Full Review » -
60
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58
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50
LA Weekly
A gorgeously burnished vintage post card come to life, Motorcycle Diaries has about as much depth and emotional currency as the cardboard that post card would be stamped on. Read Full Review » -
50
The New Yorker
Much of the film glides past with a slightly purposeless elegance. Astounding landscapes rise and fall away; enticing women glance and dance and disappear. Read Full Review » -
50
Miami Herald
It's much easier to linger on his youthful idealism than on how that idealism eventually manifested itself. It certainly makes for a much prettier picture. But when your subject is Ernesto ''Che'' Guevara, it is disingenuous. Read Full Review » -
50
Chicago Reader
It never conjures up any coherent drama of its own, focusing instead on the historical destiny of Bernal's beefcake messiah. Read Full Review »
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