Bobby Reviews

Back then, before it came out, there was a huge buzz surrounding this movie. Honestly, it wasn't anything groundbreaking eventually but still, I thought it was pretty good. First of all there is a massive cast (Harry Belafonte, Joy Bryant, Nick Cannon, Emilio Estevez, Laurence Fishburne, Heather Graham, Anthony Hopkins, Helen Hunt, Joshua Jackson, Ashton Kutcher, Shia LaBeouf, Lindsay Lohan, William H. Macy, Demi Moore, Freddy Rodríguez, Martin Sheen, Christian Slater, Sharon Stone, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Elijah Wood) and they all gave some decent performances. However, I think they got a little too ambitious with so many characters and so many storylines and, as a result, some of those storylines were interesting but some of others didn't work that well. Still, I thought it was an interesting time bubble and the ending (actually the best part of the whole movie) with Kennedy's speech was rather heartbreaking. To conclude, it is rather flawed and no masterpiece whatsoever but I still enjoyed it and it is definitely worth a look.

by Dane Youssef


Emilio Esztevez's "Bobby" celebrates not only one of the greatest political icons to die before his time, before he had the opportunity to live up to even a fraction of his potential, but a seven-year effort to get it on the big screen.


Esztevez is not as renown in the business as his father and brother are. Nor does he have such a sparkling track-record. Let's be honest. Most of the man's movies (paticularly those made after "The Mighty Ducks") borderline on unwatchable. But hey, what about "Rated X"? I heard good things. Somewhere. I don't remember where exactly...


But just because a man has a few "Battlefield Earth" and "Catwoman"-like stinkers on his resume doesn't mean he's totally incapable of putting out anything at all decent. I know we love to skewer a star when they're down. But let's give a poor guy an even shake...


Because of Estevez's experience in the biz, as well as his family's, "Bobby" is chock-full of big-name walk-ons. Yes, it's good to be able to employ the best and biggest names in the business, but I don't know if it nessicarily works here. There are so many familiar faces that pop up like a Jack-In-The-Box and then disapear just as quickly, that it's kind of distracting.


They're all not on camera long enough so that we see the characters, not actors playing a role. We keep getting the feeling that all we're looking at is super-star after supers-star just here to do some temp work, have fun, do a favor and pay respect to a great political icon.

There are so many storylines buzzing in and out in such a condensed amount of time that so many of them feel under-developed (and even pointless at times).


There are some really intriguing ones, yes, but there's also too much that just feels like filler. They're not around longe enough to make us really think or care about them.


There is no accomplished actor in the plum role of Robert Kennedy (a wise desicion on Esztevez' part)--Kennedy appears as himself in archive footage; newsreels and voice-overs. There is an enourmously talented and renown cast for "Bobby," but no real head-liner.


This is an ensemble vehicle, in the tradition of the late Robert Altman's films. Like every ensemble vehicle, the star is the subject matter--RFK himself.

The lives he touched, the inpact he made, many of the goings-on during the time... that appears here. But too briefly. Like an extra that just blends into a massive crowd or a beige wall. Where are they? You want them to stand out, you want more.


As for it's much-touted heavy-hitter cast: Joshua Jackson (who worked with Esztevez in "The Mighty Ducks" films) isn't really given much of anything to do as as Kennedy's campaign manager.


Christian Slater is one of the best working actors out there today, but any schmuck standing in line at "Hot Dog On A Stick" could have done as good a job as he's allowed to do there. Hey, maybe some of that trademark reptillian-like demeanor of his might have helped. He's a racist, but he's as interesting as plain white-bread. Heather Graham is equally ineffective (has she ever given a really great performance or does she just seem to be phoning it all in, no matter what the Hell she's in?)


Ashton Kutcher thankfully sheds his tired "Kelso" scthick as a spiritual drug dealer who introduces to LSD. He wears glasses, has long mop-like hair and a scruffy beard. This is good. We're looking at the character, not Kutcher. Lately, Kutcher has been trying to evolve past the dim-witted prett-boy roles in stupid throw-away rom-comedies. He seems to be in very serious danger of becoming just another flavor-of-the-month like so, so many, many other before him (and after him). With roles in movies like "The Butterfly Effect" and now "Bobby," there may be hope for him after all.


William H. Macy and Starone Stone are some of the best out there. Here they play a married couple who have a rather ugly secret, but the whole thing is under-written. Esztevez' should have kept working on this. It's a nice sub-plot, but their story is thinner than two-ply toilet paper. And we want more.


Lawrence Fishburne almost steals the movie as a veteran cook who works at the Ambassador. He has a deep philiosophical mind and some theories on the way the world is... and how to survive in it. How to make it yours. He sounds so insightful, like an older, seasoned veteran not miles away from Kennedy himself. He talks about how anger is toxic and his admiration and love for Dr. King and how it hurt when King was gunned down.


Legendary Oscar-winner Anthony Hopkins appears as the elderly doorman who won't just flat-out retire because the boredom and feeling of uselessness gets to him. His role is pretty unremarkable, although he brings the same grace and dignity he does to pretty much any role he's in. It's nice to see him away from his "Hannibal Lecter" repitore. And "Bobby" is a vast improvement over Ron Howard's putrid steaming green Christmas diarrea log, "The Grinch."


Director Esztevez and Demi Moore appear together as a couple for the first time in Esztevez' nearly unwatchable "Wisdom," which contained none of what was promised. Or anything else worth seeing. They have some worthwhile moments as a showbusiness couple, especially Moore is what's some of the better work she's done in a while. And it's one of the few sub-plots that work.


The only true stand-outs here are Lawrence Fishburne, Sharon Stone, Martin Sheen, Lindsay Lohan, Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore. Everyone else seems is just coasting. Because they're all just distinguished veterans, we want them to make an enourmous impact. The kind where the scene and line becomes a legendary
moment and is quoted ad nauseum. But each shot just shows big-name marquee headers doing what just about anyone could have done. Maybe the fact that all these big names are dropped will draw them in.


I do applaud Esztevez for not just hiring some celebrity impressionist to play Bobby--like De Vito did for his "Hoffa." No two-bit actor can ever forge the man. So Kennedy actually appears at himself technically the whole time throughout (except of a few scenes where Bobby's right there with the actors, but we never get a good look, of course. That feels... respectful.


But does it work? The most crippling flaw in "Bobby" is that because of the contemporary faces and their underdevloped characters and underwritten scenes, we're never convinced we're back there during that fatal day. And when RFK walks through the door, onto the stage... we're never really convinced that he's in that room at this moment. RFK and the little people never seem to exist within the same time and reality.


Throughout the whole film, I was aware that they were just using old footage of Bob and the entire cast--er, members of the Ambassador were cheering facing a camera crew.


There are some moments that alone make Bobby worth seeing: A scene where a deception is going on and is revealed--we see the victim's tears and pain, a converstaion that takes place in a kitchen that really stays with you, two suited buttoned-down campaign volunteers who volunteer to embrace something more have than Kennedy, the reporter dying to see the senator in the flesh. All storylines that could have really packed a wallop if they're were written a little more. Was Esztevez on a schedule?


But there are a few too many which are just limp which leave you feeling Esztevez should have pumped them up or simply scrapped them altogether. Maybe leaving them in the bottom drawer and hauling them out the next time he wants to make a movie. As it is, this proudly stands as the best film Esztevez has come out with in over a decade. And it is a sometimes really touching tribute to a man who deseves it. For whatever reason you want to check it out, watch it, afterwards light a candle for Good ol' Bob.


In the end, what truly makes this a movie to see is the passion. The passion that Esztevez has for Bobby and has had ever since dear Emilio actually came in contact with him when he was but five years old.


"Bobby"'s finale (yes, that is the correct phrase) comes to no surprise, but what is so astonishing is how much such an act can still touch us as if we are actually there and then. It helps give the film more of an impact than everything leading up to it did.


What matters really is not when or how Kennedy left, but that he was there. Now that he's gone, it's sad how much it says about us how much we need him now...


NOTE: This review is dedicated in loving memory for Robert Francis Kennedy, the man who at the time was America's last chance after his brother and Dr. King went the same way. Despite this film's shortcomings, I still believe it succeeds as the ultimate swan song FOR BOBBY... FOR RFK... FOR ONE LAST CHANCE... FOR THIS COUNTRY...


--For Bobby Forever, Dane Youssef


danessf@yahoo.com

profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=58175682

www.amazon.com/gp/cdp/member-reviews/ASKUZHOKQ1W3E/ref=cm_pdp_rev_title_1?ie=UTF8&sort_by=MostRecentReview#R2MFYILVVRXX73

www.imdb.com/user/ur2718160/comments?order=alpha

wiki.answers.com/Q/User:DANE_YOUSSEF

www.epinions.com/user-surfur

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:DANE_YOUSSEF

www.movieweb.com/u/dane_youssef/reviews

www.youtube.com/SURFUR

hairmetal.ning.com/profile/DaneYoussef?xg_source=activity

"Surely, this bond of common faith, this bond of common goal, can begin to teach us something. Surely, we can learn, at least, to look at those around us as fellow men, and surely we can begin to work a little harder to bind up the wounds among us and to become in our own hearts brothers and countrymen once again."

Bobby is a heartfelt, upbeat and ambitious attempt to remind audiences of the vision of harmony promulgated by Senator Robert F. Kennedy in the 1960s amid the divisiveness of the Vietnam War and racial issues. Emilio Estevez (that guy from The Breakfast Club) carried out the duties of a writer and a director for Bobby. Estevez's heart is in the right place: he aimed to make a patriotic and poignant tribute to RFK, and highlight the relevance of the issues of the 60s in contemporary society. In a very tactful way, Estevez shows that in the lives of the American people, even if things were seemingly crashing down around them with racial tension and the war in Vietnam, there was still hope. The heart of the film is the Robert F. Kennedy tragedy, but the arteries and veins feeding this heart are pure trite fiction. Estevez has lofty intentions with his film, but doesn't have the skill as a writer to do these intentions justice.

Those familiar with the RFK assassination are probably just as familiar with the assassination of President John F. Kennedy which occurred a few years beforehand. Logically enough, these two individuals were brothers. The Kennedy family have a nasty history with unnatural deaths, hence the eventual formation of the Kennedy family curse theory. In 1991, the Oliver Stone movie JFK was released. To me, Stone's movie is a masterpiece of the highest order. With a solid script and terrific actors, JFK was a movie that explored the multiple-year investigation into the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy. It's a fascinating tale, and although the theories do seem somewhat preposterous one must admit that Stone makes a number of both shocking and interesting points. Bobby avoids taking this route. Instead of examining the death of RFK, it's a deeply fictionalised fare: a mosaic of fabricated characters that are present at Los Angeles' Ambassador Hotel on the fateful day. Estevez tosses together twenty-two protagonists (with their supporting storylines), and mixes the conjured events with footage of RFK campaigning against racism, America's poverty and unlawful McCarthy tactics.

The cast can only be described as star-studded. There are so many actors making brief cameos throughout the entire flick. Naturally, in Robert Altman style, the lives of a bunch of these characters interweave during the tragedy. If I was to mention each character, actor, and storyline then I'd be typing this review until the next ice age. Here's an assortment of actors who make appearance in the film: Emilio Estevez, Laurence Fishburne, Heather Graham, Anthony Hopkins, Freddy Rodriguez, Helen Hunt, Joshua Jackson, Ashton Kutcher, Shia LaBeouf, Lindsay Lohan, William H. Macy, Demi Moore, Sharon Stone, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Elijah Wood, Svetlana Metkina, Henry Belafonte and Christian Slater.

Needless to say, the film has too many characters and far too many stories to tell. As a result the drama falls flat. With so much going on in such a short duration it becomes nearly impossible to give a flip about any particular storyline. Furthermore, the characters never seem like individual and deep characters. They're all quite one-dimensional, and only a selected amount reaches the second dimension. The storylines are just ideas, not stories, being played out by symbols as opposed to characters. Vietnam, racial unrest, hallucinogens, the Prague Spring and several incarnations of the dissolution of the American family all crop up in these vignettes. As a result the film feels really vacuous and insipid. This premise should have been employed for an extensive mini-series that upped the ante more courageously. Like if a mini-series told the events in real time, or if the story of a different character is told during one episode. Screenwriter Estevez should've also done further research to perhaps find real characters to explore. As it is, these characters are 100% fictional and this is worn on the film's sleeve.

Unfortunately, as well, there aren't many interesting characters. Instead of casting every Hollywood actor in sight, Estevez's script should've focused on perhaps four or five characters. Twenty-two characters is just too exhausting and too daring. There's too much to absorb and this is an insufficient platform to absorb it from. Several stories are also quite appallingly written. The preachy ravings of Laurence Fishburne are a key example. When he begins spouting rubbish about King Arthur in the kitchen while canonising Freddy Rodriguez, the results are embarrassing. And Lindsay Lohan can't be taken seriously by any means. I've had enough of Lohan over the years. There's also Sharon Stone as a hairdresser for crying out loud!
There's also a serious lack of atmosphere in the way the Ambassador Hotel is depicted. There's no use of space to convey the stature of the hotel, which becomes integral to Anthony Hopkins' ramblings as a retired employee of the Ambassador.

Despite these flaws, the film's strengths pay off in spades. The soundtrack is truly stunning. Stirring and poignant original music is mixed with songs of the 60s. These songs achieve their desired effect.
Bobby also skilfully breaks for lighter moments of comic relief with a hysterical sub-plot about two aides who ditch their duties to "get closer to God" with some LSD purchased from a hippie played by Ashton Kutcher. Surprisingly, Kutcher fails at his usual game of ruining a movie by overdoing it. The director should be commended for this fact alone. Some may feel that the drug interlude doesn't fit in among the drama, but drugs were an essential part of the 60s and this comic relief heightens the film's entertainment value. There's almost nothing funnier than seeing two stoners trying to play tennis.
The editing is also marvellous. Throughout the film there's archive footage that's expertly mixed with the footage Estevez directed. Especially towards the ending when RFK arrives at the hotel. Estevez opts to never show an actor portraying RFK. As an alternative there's archive footage and ingeniously framed shots to give the impression that RFK is addressing the crowd. This is a great creative decision of Estevez's.

It's also worth pointing out that Estevez is quite talented behind the camera. There are a number of riveting moments thanks to his directing. For the final 25 minutes, the film never treads a foot wrong. There's ample momentum to fuel the proceedings. There are a number of particularly excellent montages as well. Simon and Garfunkel's The Sound of Silence is played during a montage showing clips of Robert F. Kennedy's life. The film is almost entirely redeemed in its final moments by placing one of RFK's most moving speeches against the tragic aftermath of his assassination. It is a magnificent scene - a searing, expressive condemnation of American violence that is accompanied by a stirring speech Kennedy delivered following the death of Martin Luther King. It's a very powerful ending, encapsulating the lost ideals and devastated dreams that emerged from the social tumult of the 60s. The touching music also plays a crucial role here. This ending will leave you glued to your seat even after the credits being to roll.

6.0/10

At 12.15am on 5 June 1968, as Robert F. Kennedy was making his way from the ballroom of the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles to give a press conference after winning the California Primary, he was shot and fatally wounded.

With 'Bobby' actor/director Emilio Estevez chooses not to focus so much on the man himself, and instead points his camera on the people who unwittingly found themselves caught up in one of the most important and tragic events in modern American history.

Now, I'm a fan of biopics however they may be played. For the first act of Bobby I found myself wishing I had been watching a straight biopic of the man Bobby Kennedy. I was skeptical about how Estevez was going to tie the multitude of characters and their stories together. The turning point and integral message for me is the scene with Laurence Fishburne where he talks of King Arthur - a once and future king. If RFK was once that, then who is the modern day equivalent?

From here on the film finds its feet. Estevez weaves his stories together with intracate skill. I was quite simply blown away. He surpassed my expectations. The ensemble all gave inspired performances, most notably the female contingent. I didn't even recognise Sharon Stone until the credits rolled. Ironically the only storyline that felt out of place and surplus to the film was the story shared between Emilio himself and Demi Moore.

Bobby's had a lot of criticism from the film press, most of it undeserved in my opinion. I agree, it's not good to mess with history, and I usually do prefer it if a film remains historically correct. However, Estevez didn't set out to make an RFK biopic. Bobby is about universal love, respecting your neighbour. Issues that run much deeper than the words and actions of one man. And that is why the film works in my view.