Having risen from extreme poverty to Brazil's presidency, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has earned an extraordinary film about his life; one day, someone may indeed give him that gift. Until then, we'll have to make do with this shockingly rote biopic, which dutifully hits the major spots in Lula's upward trajectory: the rough early years, the initial foray into labor-union politics, the personal tragedies, the ascension to proto-socialist figurehead and, via a celeb-filled montage, a major world leader. A sense of the man himself seems absent in Fbio Barreto's portrait, however, and other than a rally scene with prescient Occupy Wall Street overtones, you're mostly left with facts, dates and iconic poses.
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