Even in a film failing to reach the lofty achievements of its namesake, there is still much to learn and enjoy here.

| Original Score: 5.5/10 | Oct 12, 2018

Though well-acted, Diego Luna's hagiographic film never manages to shine a meager beam.

| Apr 10, 2018

Loses an opportunity to dig deeper inside the man and, instead, follows biopic convention.

| Original Score: C | Jan 26, 2018

Basically, if you need a history lesson, 'Cesar Chavez' is not a bad way to go. We need histories of heroes. However, you can find more history on Wikipedia.

| Original Score: 2.5/5 | Jun 16, 2016

For better or worse, the film is a call to action, but I want to know more.

| Original Score: C+ | Jun 7, 2016

Cesar Chavez is perhaps an abridged history lesson, but given the amount of material it needed to convey, it does a commendable and stirring job.

| Original Score: 6/10 | Sep 8, 2014

While Cesar Chavez was an important figure in the fight for farmworkers' rights, a film adaptation of his work simply doesn't make for a very compelling experience, especially when it doesn't deliver the emotional impact that it should.

| Original Score: 2.5/5 | Jul 21, 2014

Truncated bio-pic doesn't dig deep

| Apr 18, 2014

Labor struggles and mass movements are the most difficult to pull off in this strictly status quo society, and the same could be said for movies re-enacting any of that suppressed US history. But this heroic and healing yet candid biopic does just that.

| Apr 17, 2014

It should have been made 40 years ago, but this biopic about the Mexican-American leader who spearheaded the fight for farmworkers' rights couldn't be more timely.

| Original Score: B+ | Apr 4, 2014

It's a wonder that nobody has tackled the story of the civil-rights crusader on the big screen before, which makes this effort discouraging for its lack of depth or insight beyond the basics.

| Apr 4, 2014

The film seems more intent on educating and inspiring than entertaining.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Apr 1, 2014

Michael Pena is solid in his portrayal of Cesar Chavez but it is not the star turner I had hoped for the versatile actor.

| Original Score: B- | Mar 30, 2014

This historical biography about the important 1960s labor organizer so actively skews away from Hollywood theatrics that it begins to feel downright quaint.

| Original Score: 2.5/5 | Mar 30, 2014

...should be shown to every McDonalds and WalMart employee immediately.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Mar 29, 2014

Cesar Chavez is the kind of movie we need more of, in that it grants greater representation to Hispanics, a drastically underserved demographic . But it's also the kind of movie we don't need any more of, in that it's not terribly good.

| Original Score: C | Mar 28, 2014

Lest you think "Cesar Chavez" is not scintillating movie material, Luna has put forth a very important portrayal of a man determined to make a better life for himself and the workers he represents.

| Mar 28, 2014

The heart and soul of this film is Pena. His magnificent performance punctuates Chavez' struggle to maintain a non-violent approach to achieve his goals --- which included a 25-day fast that nearly killed him --- and keep his large family intact.

| Mar 28, 2014

Plodding labor leader biopic shows protests, beatings.​

| Original Score: 2/5 | Mar 28, 2014

Cesar Chavez makes for a fine history lesson, but as drama, it leaves something to be desired.

| Mar 28, 2014