The film concentrates on the Grape Boycott era of the life of Cesar Chavez (Michael Peña ). The blight of the workers is shown in one quick interview where we find out they don't own anything and are illiterate. Chavez helps them by organizing them and giving them a weekly paper to read. The strike proved ineffective as rich evil Republicans brought illegals into the country to break their back. It wasn't until a national and European boycott of US grapes forced the evil John Malkovich to the table. It was all apparently started by a housewife from Portland.

The film also covers the 25 day hunger strike of Chavez which was broken by black and white nightmares of evil Governor Reagan film footage. The film touches on his rocky relationship with his son and his chauvinistic attitude toward his wife. The charm and organizing ability of Chavez is briefly covered when he had to work the fields to gain the trust of the workers. RFK is also in the film as a Chavez supporter. His death, apparently caused by Reagan and vineyard owners, resulted in immediate shootings of picket line workers.

I enjoyed the part of the Latino community reaching out to help the Filipino community. One of the reasons unions were not as strong as they could have been in America (especially the south) is due to racism. White people don't want black people in their unions which made it easy to break them or keep them from forming.

This is an okay docudrama, but did little to raise my level of awareness or sympathy.

Filmed in Mexico because it would be too hard to find enough legal looking Mexicans in the US.

Parental Guide: No f-bombs, sex, or nudity.

I first learned of César Chávez when he died in 1993, and over the years I learned about his activism for the rights of farm workers. Diego Luna's "Cesar Chavez" focuses mainly on Chávez's activism while also looking at how he tried to maintain loyalty to his family. The movie covers his 1960s activism, so I would've liked to see some focus on his activism after that period*, but the movie does a good job with its focus. There is no doubt that César Chávez is one of the most heroic figures in US history, alongside Martin Luther King Jr. Michael Peña (as César),America Ferrera (as his wife Helen),Rosario Dawson (as Dolores Huerta),John Malkovich (as a grape-grower who tries to rally opposition to Chávez) and the rest of the cast play their roles perfectly. This movie deserves an Oscar nomination, or multiple nominations.

*Helen Chávez and Dolores Huerta have continued the activism since César's death.

A Bare Bones Movie about the Famous Labor Leader that isn't Interested in Details or Minutia, just the Fact that Big Business (you know the Free Market) that Left to its Own Greedy Devices will Repress, Underpay, Exploit, De-Humanize, Employ Children, Withhold Benefits, and Simply do Anything They Can to Make More Money on the Backs of People Without Power.

So it is Really Unnecessary to get into the Weeds. This is Basic Human Rights. The Bill of Rights and All that Jazz. It Seems that there Still Remains a Clear and Present Danger in this Land of Opportunity to this Day as the Unions are Vilified and the Trickle Down Theory of Ronald Reagan (his insensitivity and inhumanity are touched on in the Film),is Still Around and Sold as the "Rising Tide that Lifts All Boats".

This is a No-Brainer and Counter-Mined and Pontificated Against Every Day by Pundits, Politicians, and Big Corp that have a Lot of Power but Very Few Brains and come Equipped with a Total Lack of Empathy. They have Undergone, Somewhere at Sometime, a "Cremation of Care".

Every so often there is a Need, Once Again, for this Type of Bumper Sticker ("Yes We Can") Sloganism just to Remind and Tweak Folks of the Perpetual Inconvenient Truth that Regular People just Want Decent Pay for a Decent Days Work and are Not Receiving it. No More Intellectualizing is Needed and No More Attention to Detail is Necessary. Just a Wake Up Call. Anybody Home?