Estivez has a go at what critics have lazily referred to as a Altmanesque ensemble piece but as I couldn't think of a better adjective I've used it myself but will try to be more inventive with the rest of this review...which is a lie but try and stay with it regardless.
Emilio's ahistoric slice 'o' time takes place in the Ambassador Hotel is the, er, fateful hours leading up to Robert Kennedy's assassination. We're introduced to a body of characters all approaching something of a convenient watershed moment in their lives and/or attitudes. They talk about the verge of a new age or represent, as in William H Macy's case, the older generation flirting with the new in order to buy into some of that RFK inspired optimism. Vietnam is discussed of course, as are civil rights, sexual politics, drugs and so on - in other words its 1968 personified and as they pontificate on the issooees that dominated the period zeitgeist, real footage of the senator is spliced in as he does the rounds on the day of the California primary which he'd win of course, only to have the result cancelled by the assassins bullet.
There's nothing about Bobby thats going to offend anyone but there, as another great orator said, is the rub. Emilio's direction is competent but never inspiring like his subject matter - functional but lacking the magic that pulled you into better political ensembles like the aforementioned Altman's Nashville. The characters are reasonably well sketched but not especially involving and how could they be when the real star of the show, Kennedy himself, makes the drama seem very ordinary as his vocalises the film's anti-war, progressive agenda far better than any set of thin characters could. His footage, well integrated into the film, is the real reason to see it. The final minutes, post -bullets, with Kennedy's assured tones giving us a timely lecture on the futility of violence and the merits of tolerance and understanding as Estevez's characters contemplate his shooting just minutes earlier, genuinely does bring a lump to the throat. It lasts five minutes or so but says more about RFK and the tragedy of his death then anything that we've seen in the previous 100 minutes. Not superb then but Estivez's admiration for his man is well received and presented with dignity.
Emilio's ahistoric slice 'o' time takes place in the Ambassador Hotel is the, er, fateful hours leading up to Robert Kennedy's assassination. We're introduced to a body of characters all approaching something of a convenient watershed moment in their lives and/or attitudes. They talk about the verge of a new age or represent, as in William H Macy's case, the older generation flirting with the new in order to buy into some of that RFK inspired optimism. Vietnam is discussed of course, as are civil rights, sexual politics, drugs and so on - in other words its 1968 personified and as they pontificate on the issooees that dominated the period zeitgeist, real footage of the senator is spliced in as he does the rounds on the day of the California primary which he'd win of course, only to have the result cancelled by the assassins bullet.
There's nothing about Bobby thats going to offend anyone but there, as another great orator said, is the rub. Emilio's direction is competent but never inspiring like his subject matter - functional but lacking the magic that pulled you into better political ensembles like the aforementioned Altman's Nashville. The characters are reasonably well sketched but not especially involving and how could they be when the real star of the show, Kennedy himself, makes the drama seem very ordinary as his vocalises the film's anti-war, progressive agenda far better than any set of thin characters could. His footage, well integrated into the film, is the real reason to see it. The final minutes, post -bullets, with Kennedy's assured tones giving us a timely lecture on the futility of violence and the merits of tolerance and understanding as Estevez's characters contemplate his shooting just minutes earlier, genuinely does bring a lump to the throat. It lasts five minutes or so but says more about RFK and the tragedy of his death then anything that we've seen in the previous 100 minutes. Not superb then but Estivez's admiration for his man is well received and presented with dignity.