Bobby (2006)

Featured Audience Ratings

• Jens S

  
  A cast to dream of gets together to relive the events of the last day in Robert Kennedy's life in the Ambassador hotel in Chicago in June 1968. No less than 22 characters, played mostly be really big names, go through their own little dramas as the day progresses and approaches… More
  A cast to dream of gets together to relive the events of the last day in Robert Kennedy's life in the Ambassador hotel in Chicago in June 1968. No less than 22 characters, played mostly be really big names, go through their own little dramas as the day progresses and approaches the presidential candidates's speech. While the film starts out with some original footage and later on shows Kennedy's speeches and public appearances on TV screens merged into the scenes, the focus is clearly on those everyday people and their different stories. Given their high amount, it is no surprise that that leaves only little screen time for each of them. The film still does a good job portraying each one of them and characterizing them within a handful of scenes. That does not mean that a couple of them feel a tad mundane or superficial and maybe even unnecessary. Kutcher and LaBouef's LSD adventures add very little to the film. The scene switches too often to ever get boring, though. Shortly before things get a little tiresome everyone unites to listen to Kennedy's speech and the rest is history. The last 15 minutes are brilliant, as the assassination also affects most of the characters we've met, while a classic Kennedy speech is playing from the off. That's when the film finally reaches a really emotional and moving level, sending off the audience with a real downer, that is yet so true and relevant.

• familiar s

  
  While ignorance turned out to be a bliss for me in Hollywoodland's case, here it played a negative role. Though the movie is not out and out boring/disappointing, it surely wasn't what I'd expected. I guess I'm the one to be blamed here. I expected some thriller of… More
  While ignorance turned out to be a bliss for me in Hollywoodland's case, here it played a negative role. Though the movie is not out and out boring/disappointing, it surely wasn't what I'd expected. I guess I'm the one to be blamed here. I expected some thriller of JFK sort here. Unfortunately, it wasn't so. I was looking forward to the events that led to the assassination, not a sneak-peak into the lives of certain people, most of which invented, who happened to be in the hotel where RFK was assassinated. Didn't serve too well for me, probably because it didn't belong to one of my favorite genres, AND also because most of the created events were "being there, seen it all" types (have seen those type of events in other movies & this movie neither offered anything new nor was its execution unique).

• Conner R

  
  I loved this, a perfect ensemble. It's one of the most interesting ways to approach Bobby Kennedy's death. Instead of making it about him, it is about the people who he effected. It also takes a very critical look at the time period and the social changes of the time. Emilio… More
  I loved this, a perfect ensemble. It's one of the most interesting ways to approach Bobby Kennedy's death. Instead of making it about him, it is about the people who he effected. It also takes a very critical look at the time period and the social changes of the time. Emilio Estevez did an amazing job at getting down a distinct style down, a great debut.

• E.J. B

  
  The last twenty minutes are especially moving.

• Alice S

  
  A good day-in-the-lives movie, with interesting subplots and reveals. I wish there could be more historical grounding between the real people who were injured in that kitchen and the ones in the movie. Now they're just random fictionalized characters.

• Cassandra M

  
  #12 Bobby Okay, there?s no actor which, we think, adds to this spectacular film. We also have to admit that, of course, Bobby Kennedy's life was cut short before he had a chance to reach The Oval Office. But what the hey! A great cast of actors surround actual clips of Bobby?s… More
  #12 Bobby Okay, there?s no actor which, we think, adds to this spectacular film. We also have to admit that, of course, Bobby Kennedy's life was cut short before he had a chance to reach The Oval Office. But what the hey! A great cast of actors surround actual clips of Bobby?s speeches and appearances a short time before his death here. President Speak: "I have saved this one opportunity, my only event of today, to speak briefly to you about the mindless menace of violence in America which again stains our land and every one of our lives."

• Lorenzo v

  
  <i>"He saw wrong and tried to right it. He saw suffering and tried to heal it. He saw war and tried to stop it."</i> It's early June in 1968, and the California presidential primary elections are occupying the minds of many in the Golden State, with… More
  <i>"He saw wrong and tried to right it. He saw suffering and tried to heal it. He saw war and tried to stop it."</i> It's early June in 1968, and the California presidential primary elections are occupying the minds of many in the Golden State, with Robert F. Kennedy in a close race against Eugene McCarthy and Hubert Humphrey. The Kennedy campaign staff has set up camp at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, while the staff and guests become observers as the brother of fallen president John F. Kennedy sets out to pick up where his sibling left off. Paul (William H. Macy) is the manager of the Ambassador, and his wife Miriam (Sharon Stone) is a hairdresser who runs's the hotel's beauty salon. Angela (Heather Graham) is a receptionist working the hotel's switchboard who has been sleeping with Paul behind Miriam's back. Timmons (Christian Slater) is in charge of the hotel's restaurant and catering department, and makes no secret of his dislike of the African-Americans and Latinos under his employ. Miguel (Jacob Vargas) and Jose (Freddy Rodriguez) are two young Chicanos on the kitchen staff who have it in for Timmons, while Robinson (Laurence Fishburne) is an older black man who counsels them on dealing with their rage. Virginia Fallon (Demi Moore) sings in the hotel's cocktail lounge and has a serious problem with alcohol; her husband Tim (Emilio Estevez) is a Kennedy supporter and also her manager, and he's nearing the end of his rope in dealing with her problem. William (Elijah Wood) is a young man desperate to avoid being drafted and sent to Vietnam; Diane (Lindsay Lohan) is a pretty young woman dating William's brother who agrees to marry him so William can avoid being drafted, though William is clearly infatuated with her while she considers this a marriage in name only. John Casey (Anthony Hopkins) is one of the owners of the Ambassador, and Nelson (Harry Belafonte) is an old friend who works at the hotel. And Jack (Martin Sheen) is a wealthy Kennedy campaign financier who is married to Samantha (Helen Hunt), an attractive but much younger woman. <b><u>Review</u></b> The idea of engaging viewers with the a variety of characters whilst maintaining the fundamental principles of Bobby Kennedy was ingenious. I found the film very refreshing as it kindly skipped the one million conspiracy theories of 'Who killed Bobby Kennedy?' However, it is clear that he probably would have won the election and paired with the extremely vagueness the assassin's words said to him before he fired the shot, implied that someone didn't want him in office. The major characters include a couple marrying to avoid being sent to Vietnam, an alcoholic performer/singer with a very unappreciated husband, a hairdresser with an unfaithful husband, a kitchen manager with a cynical interpretation of life and two young men who enjoy avoiding responsibility. The minor characters like the kitchen staff, receptionists, the drug dealer, the retired man with Alzheimer's and the waitress aspiring to be an actor are as interesting as the main characters. The film dealt with emotions encountered with betrayal, love and humanity. Therefore, the scene with the most impact showed how people of all races, class and religions grieved at the shooting and death of Bobby Kennedy, a betrayal of humanity. Although, the film left me with a feeling of hope despite this occurrence. Altogether, good direction, great plot and good dialogue. Emilio Estevez pleasantly surprised me with this piece! It was well done.

• paul s

  
  I found this film to be a window into a space in time. The charactors believable, even if some of the stories weren't about much - that's the point; they were there, going about their lives, and were touched by having hope taken away. I find so many parellells to the Obama… More
  I found this film to be a window into a space in time. The charactors believable, even if some of the stories weren't about much - that's the point; they were there, going about their lives, and were touched by having hope taken away. I find so many parellells to the Obama campaign, and believe that many who work for the campaign feel just as strongly for their candidate and the hope he brings for re-uniting the country and casting aside the political structure we've been tethered to these past 40 years. Still, that really is digressing from the movie itself, though that IS the message; and needs to be underlined. I truly enjoyed this film and was shaken by the chaos of the immediate aftermath of the shooting, and was compelled to feel the loss and sense of emptiness that all those involved felt. That was the film's true intention and it delivered in spades.

• Aliyanto L

  
  On its own terms, this movie is a reasonably moving potrayal of a society in need of salvation.

• Candy R

  
  Excellent cast. Interesting compilation of characters' lives and witnesses on the day that Bobby was shot.

• Emile T

  
  Good movie with a good cinematography, good acting and good direction. Not to be compared to JFK or other good classics of this genre.

• Craig S

  
  <b><u>Directed by:</u> Emilio Estevez.</b> <b><u>Starring:</u> Anthony Hopkins, Demi Moore, Elijah Wood, Heather Graham, Joshua Jackson, Laurence Fishburne, Lindsay Lohan, Nick Cannon, Sharon Stone, Shia LeBeouf, William H Macy.</b> I… More
  <b><u>Directed by:</u> Emilio Estevez.</b> <b><u>Starring:</u> Anthony Hopkins, Demi Moore, Elijah Wood, Heather Graham, Joshua Jackson, Laurence Fishburne, Lindsay Lohan, Nick Cannon, Sharon Stone, Shia LeBeouf, William H Macy.</b> I really wanted to like this film, I think that Emilio Estevez had great intentions and he showed a lot of potential, but aside from the final 20 minutes of the film, the film is undeveloped. Now I am not one of those people who will turn around and say "OMG like it was like sooooooo boring", yes it did move at a slow pace, it wasn't always engaging, but I was never bored. Most of the film is fiction, with a majority of the 22 characters being added to the film, but I felt that that was one of the problems. We only get brief looks at these characters, there were some pairs that were written reasonably well (John Casey and Nelsons section mainly) but others we never really get much insight into and a majority of them don't really mix in with the message trying to be put across, aside from problems they have in life. The acting ensemble is amazing, a huge cast of known faces with the majority of them giving great performances, especially from Shia Labeouf and a major surprise from Nick Cannon. Emilio Estevez certainly did a great job with the direction, piecing together his work with old film reels of RFK quite well and he packs an amazing emotional punch in the final 20 minutes, which is helped alot by RFK's actual words (which isn't necessarily a good thing on Emilio's part as that speech is the best written part in the entire film). Overall I feel that Emilio Estevez had the right intentions and his heart was in the right place, he does do quite well with his direction and the cast is great, but the many pointless sub-plots and some undeveloped characters, it lacked greatness.

• Jose Z

  
  Great movie, one of the best I've seen in the recent year. It is a very interesting view about one of the most shocking tragedies of U.S.A history, for thosae who didn't knew much about it, its a great oportunity to learn about it. The story is very interesting, about athe… More
  Great movie, one of the best I've seen in the recent year. It is a very interesting view about one of the most shocking tragedies of U.S.A history, for thosae who didn't knew much about it, its a great oportunity to learn about it. The story is very interesting, about athe last days of Senator Robert F. Kennedy and how the lives of those who were around that moment change drastically. The plot very convincing. The directing job from Emilio Estevez in this movie was simply superb, it has great rythm and the way he combines the movie scenes wit real R.F.K footage give the film a sense of reality. The cast was simply wonderful, its is so difficult to have a bunch of great actors and actresses in a movie and watch excellent performances from everyone as you see it in this moviie. It was great to watch experienced actors like Anthony Hopkins, William H. Macy, Martin Sheen, Demi Moore, Sharon Stone and Laurence Fishburn with excellent and perfect performances working along young actors like Elijah Wood, Shia LaBeouf, Heather Graham and Josua Jacksonwith very good acting jobs, and even Lindasy Lohan looks good, if she can stay out of drugs, she can prove that she can be a great actress. To conclude, this was an amazing experience, definitely an enjoyable and entertaining movie that will keep you on the edge of your seat for two hours. A film that will make you cry and laugh.

• Tom E

  
  I don't care HOW the critics panned this movie, I lived thru this and I loved the movie --

• Dan S

  
  At first interesting, but it went down hill really fast. Why should we care about a much of materialistic and selfish individuals who were around the time Bobby got shot? I don't know about you, but I only cared about one person this entire movie, Robert Kennedy, who we saw and… More
  At first interesting, but it went down hill really fast. Why should we care about a much of materialistic and selfish individuals who were around the time Bobby got shot? I don't know about you, but I only cared about one person this entire movie, Robert Kennedy, who we saw and learned little of.

• Bannan i

  
  Wow, such an interesting way of retelling a certain moment in history. The cinematography was pretty lovely, and it was quite original how they made it in such a way where there was no need to have someone play 'Bobby'. As you learn the stories of all the people surrounding… More
  Wow, such an interesting way of retelling a certain moment in history. The cinematography was pretty lovely, and it was quite original how they made it in such a way where there was no need to have someone play 'Bobby'. As you learn the stories of all the people surrounding this incident, whether they were directly involved or not it just gives us a general idea of the time period and what Bobby's efforts were. How they were met, what different people were struggling with at the time when they knew that Bobby showed up at the right time to do the right thing. Each person faces triumphs and struggles, painting us the image that it doesn't matter what era we are born in we all face similar dilemmas in today's society. An amazing cast that makes up these regular American citizens that become part of history. We see each character through the eyes of themselves, their friends, their family and it gives a multi-faceted view of things. This was a riveting and interesting story to watch unfold, and it just suits it wonderfully how Robert F. Kennedy's speeches are interspersed throughout the film as a reminder and then to give it the full effect. All in all this a film I would recommend to anyone. Simply outstanding.

• William D

  
  [size=3][color=black]Bobby felt to me like a made-for-TV movie, and not a particularly good one. The last 15 minutes are powerful, but up till then it's mostly shallow and schematic, sometimes nauseatingly so.[/color][/size] [size=3][color=black][/color][/size]… More
  [size=3][color=black]Bobby felt to me like a made-for-TV movie, and not a particularly good one. The last 15 minutes are powerful, but up till then it's mostly shallow and schematic, sometimes nauseatingly so.[/color][/size] [size=3][color=black][/color][/size] [color=black][img]http://www.independentcritics.com/images/bobby%20SPLASH.jpg[/img][/color] [size=3][color=black][/color][/size] [size=3][color=black]The big exception is [b]Sharon Stone[/b], who all but steals the movie. (Stone seems to steal every movie she's in nowadays.) To a lesser degree, good things are brought to the screen by [b]Lindsay Lohan[/b], [b]Shia LaBeouf[/b], and [b]Demi Moore[/b]. But there's a ton of other actors, and they all made my skin crawl, including Anthony Hopkins.[/color][/size] [size=3][color=black][/color][/size] [size=3][color=black]The problem was in both the writing and the direction. Each character was constructed to embody an issue of the 1960s. So you have the radical Mexican, the hippie, the druggie, the women starting to resist sexism, ad infinitum. Rather than real people having real conversations, we had 90 minutes of issues incarnate.[/color][/size] [size=3][/size] [img]http://upload.moldova.org/movie/movies/b/bobby/thumbnails/tn2_bobby_4.jpg[/img] [size=3][color=black][/color][/size] [size=3][color=black]The actors named above did succeed at breaking through the superficial writing and developed real characters who were seething with longing and heartbreak. But they were the rare exceptions.[/color][/size] [size=3][color=black][/color][/size] [size=3][color=black]But the final assassination sequence was heart-wrenching, and I like the idea of building the film around the witnesses to the killing and those who were injured along with Kennedy. I had never known that anyone else was shot that day, but about six bystanders were. This film, to some degree, is their story. I love that as a film concept. It's just too bad the project was given to Emilio Estevez. He's just not talented enough. In Martin Scorsese's hands, this film might have been something amazing. [/color][/size] [size=3][color=black][/color][/size] [size=3][color=black]Or maybe Sharon Stone should have written the script and directed.[/color][/size] [size=3][/size] [img]http://us.movies1.yimg.com/movies.yahoo.com/images/hv/photo/movie_pix/weinstein_company/bobby/sharon_stone/bobby.jpg[/img] [size=3][/size] [size=3][/size] [size=3][color=black][/color][/size] [size=3][color=black][/color][/size]

• Luke B

  
  A large and fantastic ensemble cast create a very promising debut from Estevez. A very well edited and scripted piece, which really manages to handle so many different storylines going on at once, unlike 'Crash'. Very similar to JFK in style, such as montages, real footage… More
  A large and fantastic ensemble cast create a very promising debut from Estevez. A very well edited and scripted piece, which really manages to handle so many different storylines going on at once, unlike 'Crash'. Very similar to JFK in style, such as montages, real footage and the music used. It perfectly captures and manages to address all the issues of that period of America, such as the war, drugs, race etc. Very emotional at times, with just a few glitches such as overlong preachy and cliched speaches which sometimes really are terrible. Drags at certain points, but this may just be because I found some stories more interesting than others, and wanted the film to get back to them.

• Jeremy S

  
  What a mess. Bobby wants to be everything to all people and ends up being nothing to no body. The cast, although admirably, is made up of every stereotype of 60's america, a latino illegal immigrant, a drugged out hyppie, a black cook, a affluent white boss, a racist, a feminist,… More
  What a mess. Bobby wants to be everything to all people and ends up being nothing to no body. The cast, although admirably, is made up of every stereotype of 60's america, a latino illegal immigrant, a drugged out hyppie, a black cook, a affluent white boss, a racist, a feminist, a drunk stage singer and yet with all these characters not one of them is developed beyond 8 mins of screen time in fragments. By covering so many aspects of american 60's society everything is covered superficially. It would have been better to have focused deeply on one character than superficially on many. Indeed the film should have focused on Bobby Kennedy as the title would lead you to believe. The best and most moving scenes of the film end up being the archival footage of the man himself, his mission and most of all his incredible speeches. It is a crying shame that this film is so fragmented and superficial because the by all accounts this should have been a great film. 1 star for the ambitious subject matter, 1 star for Anthony Hopkins (brilliant no matter the film) and half a star for the finished product.

• Mike N

  
  [img]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/b/be/Neilflynn4x15.jpg/200px-Neilflynn4x15.jpg[/img] "Klaus, how come back in Germany, Hamburg and Frankfurt have nothing to do with hamburgers and hot dogs?" "How come Lake Titicaca is not filled with boobs and… More
  [img]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/b/be/Neilflynn4x15.jpg/200px-Neilflynn4x15.jpg[/img] "Klaus, how come back in Germany, Hamburg and Frankfurt have nothing to do with hamburgers and hot dogs?" "How come Lake Titicaca is not filled with boobs and poop???"

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