The Liberator

"The Liberator" shoehorns the epic life of early 19th-century South American revolutionary Simn Bolivar into two hours of intermittently powerful cinema.

Simple enough for audiences who know nothing about Bolvar, poetic enough for those who grew up reading about El Libertador in school books.

Arvelo, a Venezuelan like Bolivar, touches many of the essential bases in Bolivar's story. But, perhaps inevitably, he is only able to achieve little more than mere touches.

Overall, while the idea of the historical epic has the ability to turn off a few cinephiles, this is a real gem of a film.