How I felt about it. This interesting film has a twist at the end, which changes the outlook on our hero, Ernesto, to make him even more courageous, compassionate, selfless, etc. than he has already proven himself to be. In the meanwhile, the close friendship between Ernesto and Granado is strained at times, but never broken.
And for good reason. Since they have no money, they need each other's resources. Ernesto is the poster child for trustworthiness, which opens doors. Granado is more practical, and thus can make better decisions.
The adventures change in nature after the massively polluting motorcycle finally emits its last foul exhaust. Our compadres must hike and hitchhike, but this brings them into contact with the impoverished and oppressed, whose unfair and troubled lives pick at the conscience of future doctor Ernesto. Will he become another Mother Teresa to the poor? Or does fate hold a different set of cards?
Other than embellishing the legend of revolutionary hero Che Guevara (did I just let something slip? sorry) what does this film bring to the table? That steamy South American dance halls provide better parties than their gringo counterparts? That even those who help the sick and poor, such as charity doctors and nuns, keep their social distance?
No, what this film implies is that a foolhardy adventure, such as an international journey without money, when their lives could be otherwise useful, is a good thing. If our semi-doctors had frozen into popsicles in the Andes, drowned swimming across a lake while drunk at midnight, or had been murdered by angry Chilean men for seducing their wives, the weaknesses of their strategy would have been better demonstrated.
After all, what is the best way to help the poor? Communist revolution? Where all are equal in poverty, except for the privileged who belong to the Party? Or does economic advancement, in the form of trickle down, best help the disadvantaged? What about Socialism, as demonstrated by Sweden? Perhaps we should ask one of the executive producers of The Motorcycle Diaries, Robert Redford.
How others will see it. The patient, the liberal, and the intellectual may enjoy this cinematic essay in social injustice. Women with a crush on dreamy Bernal may also find it tolerable, since he receives more than his share of close-ups. The rest of us will search for something more palpable concerning the disadvantaged. Days of Heaven (1979) is a superior alternative.