"Bobby": A Review

Despite its less than favorable reviews, or perhaps further intrigued by them, I took my mom to see the film "Bobby". We both left the theatre more than pleasantly surprised; we were inspired and in tears.

Some criticism has been thrown at the film's script and the decision to focus not so much on the title character, Robert Kennedy, but on various fictional characters who are working or staying in the hotel the night of Kennedy's shooting. I too, at first, was surprised. From the title alone, and additionally the film's trailers it seemed as though the movie "Bobby" would be about the Senator. That is, would focus solely on him and the events leading up to his assassination. After further thought, however, I realized how brilliant the script's angle actually is.

There is a reason the film is called Bobby and not RFK. The film is not another examination in conspiracy theories, nor a re-enactment of that June morning. It is a touching tribute to the Senator, and a carefully crafted portrayal of his affects on the American Public. In this way, the film not only succeeds but gives its audience a better sense of who Robert Kennedy was than any re-enactment ever could.

Kennedy was known as the great unifier. He bridged united Americans across the boundaries of race, age, economics, and religion. And the film hopes to bridge those same boundaries. To unite that same cross-section of Americans via seats in a theatre, instead of punches on a ballot.

It does this by telling those small, independent stories mentioned before. By following twenty-two fictional characters, all strangers, from all walks of life. With minimal interaction between the various characters, their only common thread time and place.

While each character is fictional, every one is based on a piece of 1960's cultural history: Vietnam, drugs/LSD, racial tensions, confusion and loss of self due to materialism or adultery or other troubling afflictions. With each story Emilio Estevez, the film's writer and director, attempts to reach out to a broad target audience. An audience that parallels that of Robert Kennedy's presidential campaign.

That target audience was indeed present at the showing attended by my mother and myself. The two of us alone shows its multi-generational appeal. There were various races and ages surrounding us; and while I did not take a religion or economics poll, I feel safe in assuming there were differences there as well.

Those differences could not only be seen but also felt. The beauty of going to live or cinema theatre is being surrounded by other people and sharing an experience. It is always fascinating to me how and why others respond the way they do. And every person will have a different experience. With "Bobby" that is equally true. The generations alive during this tumultuous time in American history will watch the stock footage of Kennedy's presidential campaign, Vietnam, and various television news reports with what I can imagine to be a painful nostalgia. For the generations born after Kennedy's assassination, or for those too young to recall it, we watch still knowing the outcome but with a more analytical mindset. For us, there is not that personal connection that is so strong in our parent's and grandparents. Our connection to this time period is rooted in our academic education. The footage used in the film our parents watched live; we watched it on a classroom monitor hurriedly taking notes for the upcoming exam.

The differences in reaction and response to the film are a guarantee, as with anything. But what makes this movie successful are those various storylines. By using them to drive the film, to portray the Senator's impact in addition to his actions, the film offers something for every audience member to connect to. Every viewer can find something to grab hold of that will pull them through the current of the film. And it is an effortless, but emotional ride.

"Bobby" begins with the Senator's announcement that he is running for president. The film brilliantly avoids the huge issue of who will play Bobby, but cross-cutting stock footage. Thus Bobby plays Bobby. These cuts are smooth and beautifully transitioned to and from with shots of Estevez's story. The film's editing pace steadily gathers speed, culminating in quick cross-cut at the end of the film, building the climax and aiding to the audience's expectant and anxious emotions as the outcome of that night is already known.

It is said that the hope of America died on June 5, 1968 at Los Angeles' Ambassador Hotel. Whether that was or is still true is still to be challenged. But it is certain that that day was the end not only of a man's life, but also of a man's mission. In the film one character says, "Now that Dr. King is gone, Bobby is all we got left." And after Bobby? That is the question plaguing a hotel full of shocked, scared, and grief-stricken on-lookers at the end of the film. And leaving the theatre, one can't help but ask that same question. Nor help wondering what this nation or even this world would have been like, had Kennedy lived and succeeded in his campaign to the White House.

STARRING: Anthony Hopkins, Demi Moore, Emilio Estevez, Elijah Wood, Sharon Stone, Freddy Rodríguez, Nick Cannon, Lindsay Lohan, Shia LaBeouf, Brian Geraghty, William H. Macy, Helen Hunt, Christian Slater, Martin Sheen, Heather Graham, Laurence Fishburne, Jacob Vargas, Joy Bryant, Kip Pardue, David Krumholtz, Harry Belafonte, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Svetlana Metkina, Lisa Pepper, Joshua Jackson
DIRECTOR: Emilio Estevez
SCREENWRITER: Emilio Estevez
RATING: R (For language, drug content, and a scene of violence.)