On an abstract level all novels are either stories about travel or character development.  The first half of The Motor Cycle Diaries falls solidly in the travel category.  Not being burdened by responsibilities for others, two young people decide to take a motorcycle tour through the different countries of South America. The camera captures arresting pictures of the landscape that made me want to pack up my bags and see the continent with my own eyes. Somewhat unexpectedly the second half of the movie tries to become a film about character development.  At the end we are told that one of the two became a famous political figure.  The character development mission of the film failed utterly to prepare me for what one of the two men ended up doing in life.