--- title: "The Motorcycle Diaries: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/the-motorcycle-diaries/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/the-motorcycle-diaries" critics_score: 68 critics_reviews: 12 licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # The Motorcycle Diaries (2004): what the critics said Critics' score 68 from 12 reviews: 9 positive, 0 mixed, 3 negative. Most critics respond warmly to Walter Salles’s account of the young Ernesto Guevara’s journey, praising its gentle approach to his growing social conscience. The strongest agreement concerns the charismatic performances of García Bernal and de la Serna, whose friendship gives the travelogue much of its feeling. The photography, locations and attention to encounters along the route also draw praise, with favourable reviews finding political awakening conveyed through people and places rather than speeches. The divide is sharp over how much this sympathetic portrait explains. Even some admirers acknowledge sentimentality and idealisation, while the negative reviews see a more fundamental lack of curiosity about Guevara’s complexity. RogerEbert.com finds the journey tedious and the character development too thin to make his conversion convincing. Slant Magazine goes further, arguing that the glossy treatment of poverty and politics reduces Guevara to an appealing, simplified figure. ## Screen Daily Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 19 January 2004. Festival review. The critic describes the film as a stirringly compassionate road movie that illuminates the young Guevara's personal odyssey and political awakening through vivid human and geographical details rather than myth-making. It singles out the likeable lead performances and the way the story documents the companions' growing awareness of social realities without conventional biopic clichés. [Read the review](https://www.screendaily.com/motorcycle-diaries/4016915.article) ## The New York Times — A. O. Scott Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 24 September 2004. Salles's warm-hearted reconstruction captures the quickening of Ernesto's youthful idealism and the turning of his passionate nature toward radical commitment with startling clarity and delicacy. The film risks idealizing its subject but remains faithful to its sources. [Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/24/movies/on-the-road-with-young-che.html) ## Variety — Todd McCarthy Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 19 January 2004. Festival review. Salles' best film to date is a beautifully wrought, intelligently made account of the dawning of Guevara's social conscience that is artful but not arty and political without being didactic. Thesping is strong but unflashy, with Garcia Bernal and de la Serna delivering fine performances. [Read the review](https://variety.com/2004/film/awards/the-motorcycle-diaries-2-1200537010/) ## Empire — Alan Morrison Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). The critic praises how the film focuses on the young Ernesto Guevara's awakening sympathies during his Latin American journey rather than mythologizing Che, crediting Salles, the screenwriter and lead actor for this approach. It excels as a travelogue, biography and portrait of friendship fused into an affecting whole, with added authenticity from on-location shooting. [Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/motorcycle-diaries-review/) ## Los Angeles Times — Kenneth Turan Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 24 September 2004. This is the quietest, most meditative motorcycle movie ever made, a soulful and reflective film that movingly presents how Guevara came to believe a true revolutionary is guided by great feelings of love. Walter Salles was the right choice to direct a film that unfolds gently without pushing too hard. [Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2004-sep-24-et-motorcycle24-story.html) ## The Guardian — Peter Bradshaw Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 27 August 2004. The critic praises Salles's biopic for its beautiful photography and charismatic performances, highlighting the journey's exploration of poverty and idealism in pre-revolutionary Che. He notes it sentimentalizes Che but captures the youthful testament well. [Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/News_Story/Critic_Review/Guardian_Film_of_the_week/0,,1291408,00.html) ## Time Out — GA Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). The critic praises Salles' relaxed and character-focused re-creation of the young Guevara's South American journey with his friend, highlighting the film's light touch on personal and social experiences without heavy rhetoric or melodrama. It singles out the charismatic performances, improvisational style, and evocative camera work and music for their freshness and insight. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/the-motorcycle-diaries) ## IndieWire Fi1m's normalised score 40/100 (inferred from the text). 24 September 2004. The critic finds the film a superficial road movie that fails to delve deeply into its subject or deliver much substance. It is seen as an unsatisfying portrait of young Che Guevara and his companion. [Read the review](https://www.indiewire.com/criticism/culture/walter-salles-the-motorcycle-diaries-on-the-road-without-much-substance-78640/) ## RogerEbert.com — Roger Ebert Fi1m's normalised score 30/100 (inferred from the text). 1 October 2004. The film is an attenuated and tedious travelogue that fails to develop its characters or explore Che's conversion in any depth. It relies on a simplistic formula of youthful adventures leading to later fame. [Read the review](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-motorcycle-diaries-2004) ## Slant Magazine — Ed Gonzalez Fi1m's normalised score 20/100 (inferred from the text). 3 August 2004. The critic calls the film insipid and disingenuous, accusing it of flattening Che into a simplistic, appealing icon for liberal audiences rather than exploring his complexity. It singles out the glossy, superficial treatment of the South American journey and social issues for complaint. [Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/the-motorcycle-diaries/) ## The AV Club — Keith Phipps 21 September 2004. The critic praises the handsome direction, strong lead performances, and the way the film uses its historical context to show one man's growing social conscience. It notes that the story functions as an early chapter in a hagiography of Guevara and reveals little of the complex revolutionary he became. [Read the review](https://www.avclub.com/the-motorcycle-diaries-1798199965) ## Eye for Film — Amber Wilkinson Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 17 August 2004. Festival review. The critic praises the film as a heartfelt coming-of-age story about young Che Guevara and his friend on a South American road trip. She singles out the stunning cinematography and the convincing performances, especially the central relationship between the two leads. [Read the review](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/the-motorcycle-diaries-film-review-by-amber-wilkinson) ## Paste — J. Robert Parks Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 31 January 2005. The film is one of the most enjoyable of 2004, following the six-month journey of young Ernesto “Che” Guevara and his friend. It effectively captures the Latin American conditions that shaped Guevara without overt politics and highlights the development of a Latin American consciousness through the stunning scenery and themes. [Read the review](https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/the-motorcycle-diaries) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/the-motorcycle-diaries.md