Cesar Chavez
Lionsgate | Release Date: March 28, 2014 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
51
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 26 Critic Reviews
Positive:
9
Mixed:
15
Negative:
2
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
83
Entertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanMar 26, 2014
In the title role, Michael Peña has a no-nonsense fire: He captures how Chavez borrowed from Martin Luther King Jr. but also fueled the struggle with his own improvisatory brilliance. Read full review
75
USA TodayClaudia PuigMar 27, 2014
Enlivened by a strong cast, Cesar Chavez is a straightforward and inspiring account of a noble man. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesBill ZweckerMar 27, 2014
It’s Pena’s quietly powerful interpretation of Cesar Chavez the man that makes this movie work so well. Read full review
75
McClatchy-Tribune News ServiceRoger MooreMar 25, 2014
Like "42," Cesar Chavez lacks the budget to feel truly epic in scope. The violence is scattered, shocking and personal, the struggles within the union muted but the outrage — is palpable. Read full review
70
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzMar 27, 2014
It never quite takes off in a stirring, inspirational way, but moves steadily forward in solid fashion. Read full review
67
Portland OregonianStephen WhittyMar 27, 2014
It's a clear and moving story, although the messier edges of the man have been smoothed out, and some of the victories may have been exaggerated to provide a happier ending. Read full review
63
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliMar 27, 2014
The performances are solid but I walked out of the theater thinking I might have been equally edified and entertained reading the man's Wikipedia entry. Read full review
63
Miami HeraldConnie OgleMar 27, 2014
That rare biopic that’s shorter and swifter than it should be. This turns out to be both a blessing and a curse. Read full review
63
Slant MagazineSteve MacfarlaneMar 25, 2014
Not unlike Michael Peña's prior supporting roles, Chavez is marked by an explosive anger kept under a cherubic, sweet-natured mask, providing the surprise lacking in the story's text. Read full review
60
The New York TimesA.O. ScottMar 27, 2014
What the film struggles to depict, committed as it is to the conventions of hagiography, is the long and complex work of organizing people to defend their own interests. You are invited to admire what Cesar Chavez did, but it may be more vital to understand how he did it. Read full review
58
The A.V. ClubA.A. Dowd Mar 26, 2014
What Cesar Chavez critically lacks is a unique, complicated, or personal perspective on its world-famous subject. As is often the problem with portraits of influential firebrands, the film never quite sees past the movement to the man leading it. Read full review
50
New York Magazine (Vulture)Bilge EbiriMar 28, 2014
The ultimate effect of this film, directed by actor Diego Luna, is curiously cold — it never transcends the hagiographic nature of its material, despite a talented cast and a compelling subject. Read full review
50
Christian Science MonitorPeter RainerMar 28, 2014
Biopics about civil rights icons are usually staid affairs. Cesar Chavez, directed by Diego Luna, is no exception. Read full review
50
Washington PostStephanie MerryMar 27, 2014
It seems like a waste of talent, but worse still, Cesar Chavez squanders an opportunity to revisit a story worth retelling. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesBetsy SharkeyMar 27, 2014
The man was not, by most accounts, pedestrian. In trying to follow so closely in his footsteps, the film, however, is. Read full review
50
Boston GlobePeter KeoughMar 27, 2014
Plays more like an exercise in nostalgia than a dramatic re-creation of a triumphant fight for civil rights. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleMar 27, 2014
The film is always a little bit at a distance, almost involving, always good enough to make us root for it, but rarely better than average. Read full review
50
New York PostKyle SmithMar 26, 2014
It’s too busy with feel-good slogans like “Si Se Puede.” The slogan may be nice, but it’s meaningless. So is the movie. Read full review
50
Austin ChronicleMarjorie BaumgartenMar 26, 2014
Cesar Chavez, though respectful and illuminating, never rises to the inspirational level of its titular subject. Read full review
50
The PlaylistJessica KiangFeb 13, 2014
It’s a competent, unobjectionable history lesson but Cesar Chavez’ legacy needs a more inspired and inspiring telling if it's to get the exposure this crusading figure deserves. Read full review
50
VarietyPeter DebrugeFeb 13, 2014
Neither Pena nor the pic itself delivers the necessary dynamism, strained by a modest budget and too few extras to sufficiently re-create a movement that found strength in numbers. Read full review
42
HitfixDrew McWeenyApr 18, 2014
The script by Keir Pearson is admirably restrained in many ways, but it is also almost completely devoid of anything that would give the film the feel of actual life. Read full review
40
New York Daily NewsJordan HoffmanMar 27, 2014
Just as the migrant workers of California deserved better treatment from their bosses, the man who won the labor dispute deserves better treatment than this film. Read full review
40
The DissolveNathan RabinMar 27, 2014
Chavez was a man of intense, overriding passions, his biopic feels strangely academic and detached, an unimaginative, straightforward catalog of his greatest hits and most historic campaigns that provides precious little insight into his inner life. Read full review
38
RogerEbert.comGodfrey CheshireMar 28, 2014
It's reverential rather than revealing, predictably admiring where it needs to be nuanced and challenging. Read full review
30
Village VoiceInkoo KangMar 25, 2014
The careless diminishment of every other character that isn't Chávez — including wife Helen, played by an utterly wasted America Ferrera in a grape-sized role — might be worth overlooking if the film provided any insights into its subject. Read full review
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