Frida's major failing as a movie, for me, is that Salma Hayek, try as she might, is simply not a good enough actress to ever draw our attention away from the always magnificent Alfred Molina. Because of that one fact, Hayek's Frida can never be as interesting as Molina's Diego Rivera, even though Frida is the focus of this film, and Rivera a supporting (however large and important) character.

With Molina's overwhelming talent forgiven (oh, how I wish someone had to forgive me for that fault), Frida is a fine film about one of the most important artists of the 20th century. The script is engaging (it bogs down briefly just before the third act, but that is typical in bio pics), and the acting is very, very strong (the aforementioned Molina is stunning, and Geoffrey Rush, Antonio Banderas and others are very good). Even Hayek, possessed of moderate acting talent, gives a fine performance. (She is more than a little bit too pretty to play Frida -- though she tries to disguise her beauty behind Frida's distinctive moustache and mono-brow, she remains extremely hot.) Taymor's direction is tight, even when she strays into surreal imagery, she somehow retains focus and forward motion in the film -- often a hard thing to accomplish in a biography picture.

In the end, Frida is a very good movie about an important historical figure. It's definitely worth seeing.