Simon Bolivar is one of the most important figures in the history of Latin American culture, celebrated for achieving freedom from Spain and has thus been given the title of "Liberator."

But he was a complex man and his handling of power was often questioned. These issues are at the forefront of the new film "The Liberator," directed by Alberto Arvelo.

As the film opens, the viewer is introduced to Bolivar himself (Edgar Ramirez) in a frenzied sequence. He is trying to meet up with his beloved Manuel Saenz and is about to face an attempt on his life. After he overcomes the danger, the film flashes back to how he came to be in this situation.

In this flashback, the viewer witnesses Bolivar in Spain as he meets his first wife, Maria Theresa Bolivar (Maria Valverde). He takes her back to Latin America where they live in a temporary Eden. When Spanish troops show up at Bolivar's ranch looking for his rebellious teacher, Maria Theresa's loyalty is tested. But once this minor crisis is averted, the eponymous hero is faced with the loss of his wife from an illness. Then Bolivar runs off to Europe with no desire to continue his rebellious pursuits. Only the return of his teacher drives him into action and the rest, as they say, is history.

The film unfortunately fails to live up to the heroic heights of its subject. The initial sequences come off as if they came directly out of a Venezuelan soap opera (and not the good ones). Bolivar confronts the King of Spain in a tennis match and wins. The King comes off overly childish and angry, a caricature clearly drawn to contrast with the composed and manly Bolivar. It is a man against a child, black versus white, and there seems to be no room for anything else. Spaniards are generally drawn in broad strokes. They are evil doers who must be annihilated if the survival of Latin America is to be ensured. Obviously the Spanish rule was harsh on the Latin Americans, but this picture makes it seem as if nothing good ever came from the colonists.

The overall structure suffers from its inherent repetition. Bolivar rises up and gives a poignant speech to his new recruits. Moments after the speech, he and his men are off to battle. He makes some progress, makes new friends and then faces yet another conflict. How does he resolve it? By giving another profound speech filled with patriotic fervor (similar to the preceding one). He gains more men and then repeats the cycle anew.

It gets rather exhausting, especially as the action sequences are skimmed over quickly, as are the moments of introspection. His romance with Manuela is glimpsed in a grand total of three scenes, and one of those is their goodbye. In fact, in one of those scenes she is little more than a plot device to expose new information to the audience.

Even his struggle with power is heavy-handed in its exhibition. There are some quick scenes in the new Senate (which looks heavily stylized to probably hide low production values) that mention his tyranny, but it is never in full flower despite the excessive running time. The most the viewer gets of Bolivar's changing psychology is through his relationship with the imperialistic Torkington (Danny Huston) who seeks to gain from Bolivar's rise. But even here, the viewer cannot help, but completely agree with Bolivar's heroic stance as he rejects Torkington's questionable business propositions.

The film's ending will certainly create controversy as it works overtime to highlight Bolivar's heroism. History claims that the Liberator died of illness on his way to Caracas. Arvelo, who rightly knows that this kind of ending would be anticlimactic, opted for something far more implausible, but certainly more heroic. It hits home the film's attempts to laud Bolivar as much as possible, despite being rather laughable. It does not help that this fantasy ending is also shot in a fantastical style. As with the senate scenes, there is no realism in the imagery. It is so romanticized that it brings attention to its overly idealized portrayal of its hero.

Edgar Ramirez does his utmost to make Bolivar believable, but the script does not help matters and his characterization oscillates between a composed man and a whiny one. Maria Valverde is also highly charismatic has his wife and the two enjoy solid chemistry. Unfortunately her screentime does not last all that long and the remaining cast members fail to infuse the film the same level of youthful energy she provides. The remainder of the cast does its best to keep up with the narrative despite being given little else but expository lines to deliver.

This is a marked disappointment as far as biopics go and continues to show that this genre fails when it tries to be all-encompassing. Had "The Liberator" dealt with a specific crisis or moment in Bolivar's life, then it probably would have succeeded in painting the man in full color. But as it stands, this film is sprawling, slow and lacking in depth. It fails to live up to the grandeur of its subject.