Originally it was simply titled Chavez, but as the Diego Luna-directed biopic of the Latino American civil rights activist makes its way to theaters on April 4, 2014 it will be known as Cesar Chavez: An American Hero.
Michael Pena stars in the lead role as he sets out to organize the largest non-violent protest in U.S. history to accomplish his ultimate goal of obtaining basic human rights for over 50,000 farm workers in California. Co-starring in the picture are America Ferrera, Rosario Dawson, John Malkovich, Jacob Vargas, Yancey Arias, Wes Bentley and John Ortiz.
I included some comments on the film in my earlier this year, but since we hadn’t really heard anything about it I’d sort of forgotten about it. Well, here’s the first trailer to put it back on your radar.
The early April release date puts the release just a few days after Chavez’s March 31 birthday and just a few weeks before his death in 1993.
After watching the trailer, obviously modern day parallels are going to be made and I really hope it’s not a film filled with “go back to your country” moments because it looks like it could be a pretty good film if it doesn’t get caught up in trying to manipulate the audience, but rather work on their emotions with real human emotion. Give it a watch and let me know what you think in the comments below.
