Bobby [2006] [DVD]

Robert F. Kennedy was adored by the masses when he won the primary for the Democratic party, on his way to becoming the president. Then, like his presidential brother, he was gunned down in public. (That was WAY before I was born, so much of what I know comes from books)

Emilio Estevez doesn't exactly focus on that in "Bobby." Instead, he creates an elaborate "Grand Hotel"-style plot, focusing on the people who surrounded Kennedy on the last day of his life. The movie is a little scattered throughout the first parts, but Estevez yanks it together in time for the inevitable, tragic denouement.

The entire movie takes place on one day: June 4, 1968. The place: Los Angeles' Ambassador Hotel. And there's as much drama out of the campaign as in it: For example, the manager (William H. Macy) is cheating on his smart beautician wife (Sharon Stone) with the switchboard girl (Heather Graham), but takes some time out to fire a racist supervisor (Christian Slater) because the guy won't let the black and Latin employees vote.

The doorman (Anthony Hopkins) and his pal (Harry Belafonte) play chess and talk. A lounge singer (Demi Moore) is struggling with alcoholism, a young girl (Lindsay Lohan) is marrying a guy she doesn't love (Elijah Wood) to keep him from going to Vietnam, and campaign workers drop acid. Their stories are only loosely intwertwined -- until Sirhan Sirhan arrives.

Estevez has created a movie that Tries To Have It All. It tackles racism, war, love, voting, women's rights, and the adored icons of an era. It also stars just about every kind of actor: veterans, Bratpackers, ex-sexpots, MTV stars, party girls and accomplished young actors.

In fact, "Bobby" spills over with plot and characters, and for the first two thirds, it seems that there is almost too much of EVERYTHING. But Estevez captures the you-are-there ambience, with crisp suits and longer dresses, neat hair, period music and the occasional baseball reference. For a day, you ARE in Los Angeles in 1968.

And he has a knack for creating a sense of foreboding and sadness, which hangs independently of the characters. Yet in some scenes where Kennedy is supposed to be speaking, the shining eagerness that you see in the audience's faces is enough to bowl you over. It captures the hope that was present during that era, and afterwards died quickly, as hope usually does.

The enormous cast makes it hard to single out one, but there are several good ones: Laurence Fishborne and Freddy Rodriguez as cooks who discuss the racism they struggle with, Macy as the manager who struggles to regain his lost youth by an affair, Stone as his faded beauty of a wife, and Wood's bittersweet, ironic portrayal of the young groom.

Kennedy himself is a nebulous figure -- most of what we see are archival clips, which show the young candidate's charisma and power. Although "Bobby's" take on him is rather naive, it does leave you wondering how he might have changed the US, had he lived.

"Bobby" is high on ambition, and Estevez manages to create a truly poignant, thought-provoking film. It has its flaws, but it also captures a shocking moment in American history.

This is a highly interesting film, one which combines the multi strand narrative technique recently seen in Magnolia ans Crash and places it in and around the events leading up to the assassination of Robert Kennedy. The only time we see the eponymous Bobby Kennedy is in newsreel footage of his presidential campaign. The film is about the events leading up to his death but it also more about other people, the key players such as his campaign managers and those with minor roles such as the kitchen staff at the Ambassador Hotel. Most of the events are seen through the eyes of these characters, all played with remarkable skill by an array of fine actors including Helen Hunt, Anthony Hopkins, Estevez himself and Laurence Fishburne.

The film is flawed, its flow is a little clunky at times but the power is there and the tension leading up to the assassination is very real and shows the promise and skill of the novice director Estevez.

Emilio Estevez doesn't exactly have a great track record as a director (ie Men At Work), but he shows great subtlety and a deft touch here with a magnificent all star cast. The story centres around the lives of 22 characters on the day of the assassination of Bobby Kennedy. Estevez follows the lives of the residents and employees of the Ambassador Hotel as their seemingly insignificant lives get ready to change dramatically as they witness the shooting by Sirhan Sirhan. At first it might seem that there are one or two too many plots going on, because some (such as the Anyony Hopkins / Harry Belafonte storyline) don't really have much relevance to the story, but that's the whole point. Estevez is trying to establish the normality of the day in the build up to the tragic events. When he does get to the assassination it's handled extremely well and the desperation of it all is captured perfectly and accompanied by the song Never Gonna Break My Faith.

There are some great performances from the cast, particularly Martin Sheen, Freddy Rodriguez, Laurence Fishburne, Christian Slater, Helen Hunt, Sharon Stone, Joshua Jackson, Shia Labeouf and Demi Moore. All top actors who one would guess did this for the love of it rather than the paycheck. As someone who didn't know all that much about the Bobby Kennedy murder I found this quite moving and it certainly seemed to create the mood of despair after the shooting extremely well.

All in all a pleasing and fairly subtle movie.