I reviewed Chavez for the Las Vegas Weekly when it appeared at the CineVegas Film Festival, and I talked about it on air with Al Bernstein on his Coast to Coast show on Sirius radio.
I liked the film a lot. It is a revealing, very human documentary.
Chavez is directed by 28-year-old actor-turned-director Diego Luna.
It has some defects. It starts slowly, and the white-on-white subtitles are a problem.
But anyone who says the movie doesn't have any themes simply doesn't know what he is talking about.
The themes are potent.
One of the most effective themes is the influence of family. Luna dedicates his movie to his own family. And he shows Chavez and his family in intimate, meaningful sequences.
A second major theme is how the mighty decline. Luna was in the hotel room in Phoenix before Chavez's last fight. And he was in the dressing room after the fight. The images of the beaten fighter are eloquent.
Chavez is a very human portrait. Luna invests it with his personal humanity.
Luna shows the potential that makes him a director to watch in the future.
Tony Macklin
Voices from the Set
