Although more than 4 hours long, 'Che' feels rushed

CHE — ★★ — Benicio Del Toro, Demian Bichir, Catalina Sandino Moreno; with English subtitles (Spanish dialects); not rated, probable R (violence, profanity, gore, slurs, brief drugs, vulgarity); Broadway Centre

It might be a little weird to be complaining that the pacing for a four-hour-plus movie seems rushed, but that's the case with "Che."

Steven Soderbergh's epic-length biographical drama breezes through the crucial background material and the necessary detailing of political intrigue that would explain what prompted the Cuban Revolution.

You know, the stuff that might explain to audiences why they should care about any of this in the first place.

And, curiously, it takes its time in other, less-crucial scenes. In particular, it practically dawdles during the jungle warfare scenes, which really aren't as crucial or as interesting as Soderbergh would have us believe.

Still, there's no faulting the performance of its star, Benicio Del Toro. He's watchable, as always, as the title character, physician-turned-revolutionary Ernesto "Che" Guevara.

Del Toro also produced the movie, which has been broken into two, two-hour-plus films. (Locally, it's being shown as one cinematic package.)

Part one — also known as "The Argentine" — examines how Guevara and Fidel Castro (Demian Bichir) organized a partisan army.

Making their way from Mexico to Cuba, Castro, Guevara and their fellow soldiers were determined to take back the country from military man turned Cuban leader Fulgencio Batista.

Part two ("Guerrilla") looks at how Guevara then concentrated his later efforts in Bolivia. However, his attempts to bring Communist rule to that country were less successful and took a terrible toll on his personal life, as evidenced by his strained friendships and relationship. (Particularly, his marriage to Mrs. Guevara, played by Catalina Sandino Moreno.)

Soderbergh's obvious reverence for Guevara may have clouded his filmmaking judgment. And again, the characterizations and such are pretty sketchy. (The credited screenwriters are journeyman scripters Peter Buchman and Benjamin Van Der Veen.)

Del Toro does what he can to flesh out his role, and he relies heavily on his natural charisma.

And Bichir is fine as Castro. But all we really learn about the man is that he likes to smoke Cuban cigars. (Well, no duh!)

Worse, this material relegates Moreno to a worried-at-home wife character, which isn't the best use of her talents.

"Che" is not rated but would probably receive an R for strong violent content (warfare, including shootings and gunplay, and vehicular and explosive mayhem), strong sexual language (profanity and suggestive references), some gory and bloody imagery, derogatory language and slurs (based on nationality and political beliefs), and brief drug references (various pharmaceuticals). Running time: 269 minutes.

E-mail: jeff@desnews.com