Bobby is not just a story about the day Senator Robert Kennedy was shot. It’s about the the effects that Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination had on people during the time leading up to Kennedy’s death and it follows some very different people that were in close proximity to the events that terrible day . It was written and beautifully directed by Emillio Estevez.
Most of the actors worked for scale or for free they believed in the project so much, and believe me the love that went into this film shows. It has an all star cast including Anthony Hopkins, William H Macy, Sharon Stone, Laurence Fishburne, Helen Hunt, Martin Sheen, Heather Graham, Harry Belafonte, Demi Moore, Ashton Kutcher, Joshua Jackson (yes I know there is a lot of talent, more to come) Christian Slater, Lindsay Lohan, Freddy Rodriguez and Elija Wood. Basically this movie oozes talent from every pore.
The stories in it are varied in tone and performance, but all of them are interesting. We see a young girl who is marrying a school classmate so that he won’t be send to Vietnam, there is the very funny side story of two volunteers for Kennedy’s campaign who decide to ditch the last day of campaigning to try drugs instead. Then we are taken into the life of a fashionable wife who is embarrassed and uncomfortable with her husband’s depression. One of my favorites is a the day in the life of a Hispanic waiter as he tries to rise above the racism of his boss.
Bobby is almost completely about ordinary people and their struggles in daily life, of course since this is a movie their daily struggles are about to peak for entertainment’s sake but it feels very natural. It all is taking place inside or outside of the Ambassador hotel, the place where Kennedy was shot.
There are parts in Bobby that feel a little forced, some dialogue that is a bit too expositional and some of the montages go on a bit too long. Also Lindsay Lohan performance is the weakest part of the movie, she just isn’t polished enough for a film like this, when she is good she is amazing but there were moments where things felt overacted and the occasional shot that had her a bit blank in the face. This is, of course, the movie that had William H. Macy so ticked off over her late night partying and late arrivals to set.
But gossip aside this is a film that will make you think, really think. It tells of a time when people were proud to be American, when other countries loved America too and everyone was still hopeful for the future. And then you are reminded about the day the music died.
Watching this movie made me keenly aware that we have no heroes in politics anymore. There is no politician that I love and believe in, I certainly don’t care about meeting the president or prime minister, they just seem like businessmen. Bobby Kennedy inspired Americans, black, white, Hispanic, native, rich and poor and with Martin Luther King murdered just a few months before, he was really the last hope.
When Kennedy was shot in the heart America seemed to bleed just as much.
What is so important about this movie is that it reminds us of the hope people had, it shows us what we should look for in a president. Things have regressed a lot in the land of the free, the quickest way to see this is to walk into any inner city public school.The segregation levels in America are at their highest point since Martin Luther King was alive.
This is the kind of movie that could inspire people to regain the glory and compassion that America was once was known and loved for.This is what Bobby Kennedy was all about when he was alive, and that is what the film Bobby leaves you with when you walk out the door.
I give this movie and 8 out of 10. For a no go or routh, it is a routh.
