Fidel

The life of Cuban leader Fidel Castro receives a thoughtful, balanced treatment in this bio-pic originally broadcast as a Showtime miniseries. Heading a cast of mostly unknown but very capable actors, Victor Huggo Martin turns in a charismatic performance as the idealistic lawyer-cum-revolutionary who led a band of rebels in overthrowing the corrupt Batista regime in 1959. From clean-shaven family man to the bearded, cigar-smoking, speech-delivering figure familiar to the world, Castro's ascent is carefully detailed, including his vindictive treatment of close friends and allies who dared question the nobility of his self-righteous revolution. DVD extras are limited to bio-notes and JFK's Cuban Missile Crisis speech--both in almost unreadable small print--but the main advantage to purchasing the DVD is that the VHS edition is a shorter, edited version. Recommended. (T. Rich)