Soderbergh’s ambitious bifurcated chronicle of the two major military campaigns of the iconic guerilla leader is the most ambitious (and divisive) historical epic since Oliver Stone’s JFK. Anchored by Benicio Del Toro’s subtle but powerful Cannes-winning performance, the film eschews the traditional narrative trappings of the Hollywood biopic, and while it is composed of two separate films, they achieve full significance only in relation to the other. Befitting Soderbergh’s interlocking love of film history and postmodern sensibilities, Che is simultaneously a Hollywood throwback with its lengthy, four-and-a-half-hour roadshow grandiosity and a challenging experiment in genre reformulation. (DVD)