Bob Roberts Reviews

This is *not* a faux-documentary in the spirit of Christopher Guest. "Bob Roberts" is biting satire... a little too biting, in fact. Watching the film I found myself far more depressed than amused as I realized I wasn't staring at a funhouse mirror image of reality, but that reality itself has gone through the looking glass, to borrow a phrase. The only real joke in the movie is that Bob Roberts is a superstar folk singer. The rest might as well be a straight-ahead documentary on any number of military-industrial complex politicians in Washington today (eg, Dick Cheney). But then it's not even as successful as it could be in that regard because the film does go a bit over-the-top near the end with a rather unrealistic twist that stretches its credibility, making the film's message easy to dismiss as conspiratorial fiction.

Sadly, this a comedy that's too true to be funny and yet at the same time it's also too contrived to really wake the masses. Still, it's worth a look if you're already part of the anti-corporatist crowd to whom such a film would clearly resonate.