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Venice diary - 'Bobby' review

Dave Calhoun has scathing words for Emilio Estevez and his Bobby Kennedy film.

Sep 7 2006

Emilio Estevez doesn't first leap to mind when imagining a promising chronicler of America's recent past, and on the evidence of 'Bobby' (which he writes, directs and stars in), never was an instinct more true. It's one of those films that sounds good on paper: 24 hours in the life of Los Angeles' Ambassador Hotel, leading up to the death of Senator Robert Kennedy who was shot in the hotel's kitchen on June 6 1968.

It was a time of war, dissent, dashed ideals; go figure the parallels with now. Estevez cuts real footage of Kennedy into a drama that focuses on the supporting cast: the doorman, the hotel beautician, the idealistic party worker, the Mexican cooks. His attempt to shoehorn what he sees as the grand themes of the period into his choppy, unsubtle script are embarrassing, and never more so than when he tries – and fails dreadfully – to recreate the experience of an LSD trip.

A cameoing celeb cast (Ashton Kutcher, Lindsay Lohan, Sharon Stone, Demi Moore, Anthony Hopkins...) cock up the project further, pushing it into bitty, grandstanding sketch territory. The flaws of 'Bobby' are so horrible that you couldn't care less about what RFK has to say as one of his speeches rambles over the hysterical closing scenes.

What should feel like a well-honed orchestral recital ends up sounding like a series of poor high-school musical performances (with Kutcher on the recorder). The film played in Venice as a 'work in progress' but only a different script and cast could save 'Bobby' from itself.

User comments on this story

Terence said...

The theme tying the film together is hope, or more accurately lost hope. It is not designed to be a story or provide a narrative flow but a snapshot of what America was, could and can be. In this regard it is successful and one of the best films I've seen for a while. Posted on Feb 05 2007 22:58

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Alfie said...

I like cheese Posted on Jan 29 2007 18:05

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Jack Hackett said...

Having just watched Bobby, I have to agree wholeheartedly with this review. The film is so simplistic and is the ultimate vanity project. Too many pointless strands mean that there is no character development and the "politics" of the film are embarrasingly one dimensional, and there is no opportunity to think about what America - and the world - may or may not have lost when RFK was assassinated. How anyone could think the vignettes tie together nicely is beyond me. An excellent review by Mr Calhoun of a terrible, terrible film by Mr Estevez. Posted on Jan 29 2007 13:15

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Martine Rey said...

I saw the movie in France the day it came out there, i.e. January 24th. True, Mr. Calhoun, it ain't Robert Altmann. I particularly agree about the very poor closing scene where RFK's "speech rambles over the hysterical closing scenes." Too bad, because it is an important speech.
At the same time, I agree with Dave Thomas : the movie as such is enjoyable (it is a MOVIE and not a documentary, after all!) and the timing could not be better. I hope that it had a large showing in the US ; there is no better time to remember RFK's message than now ! Posted on Jan 28 2007 20:10

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Dave Thomas said...

I saw the North American preview of Bobby last night at the Toronto International Film Festival and while it is flawed, I thoroughly enjoyed the film and believe Mr. Calhoun's comments are frankly, a joke. There are some top rate performances here, including Sharon Stone and Demi Moore. The vignettes tie together nicely and the despite the fact that we know how the movie ends, there is a surprise and it works. Looks like Mr. Calhoun sucked on a lemon before watching Bobby. It is good entertainment and that's a fact. Posted on Sep 16 2006 02:10

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