Che - The Movie takes Minneapolis

He finally arrived!

Che!, the movie with Benicio del Toro playing the part of Che Guevarra, finally opened at Minneapolis' Uptown Theater on Friday night.

In the past year, this movie has been getting a lot of press, which as a total Che junkie, I've been paying attention to.

But I should have been paying better attention. Once I had paid my $15 entrance (gulp) and had settled in my seat, I realized I really had no idea what to expect from this film. The only words I'd let pass my filter were "Che" and "Benicio del Toro." I'd never read a review.

Here's my review: Unless you already know the story of Che Guevarra's life and death, and unless you have a nice FIVE hour chunk of time to kill, perhaps you should skip this one.

The first part was fine. The second part was L-O-N-G and choppy. With an hour yet to play out in the show, my fellow Che-loving movie-going companion leaned over and whispered, "I've never been more ready for Che to die."

I, too, was very ready for Che to die. I was getting hungry, and weary of wondering how long it was going to take the big screen to finally get to the end.

Instead, I started counting heads. The theater was full. After counting 94 people on the main floor, I guessed another 20 or so were in the balcony over head, for a rough estimate of 115 people who showed up on a Saturday afternoon to spend five hours watching a movie glorifying Che.

Who were all these people? My family and friends find my Che obsession bizarre, and I was almost starting to believe them. My mom doesn't like it because, she told me once, "it's too Communist." My husband's standard response, whenever I mention Che, is "Che is gay."

But clearly, with 115 people sitting through this show, I was not alone. And in the end, knowing that, I figured was worth my five hours and my $15.