Rather than creating a film about the life of Robert Kennedy or an Oliver Stone style conspiracy theory tale exploring his assassination, director Emilio Estevez's "Bobby" is a brilliant snapshot of a pivotal time in American history, "Bobby" follows an ensemble cast at the Ambassador Hotel on a single day in 1968 on the day that Bobby Kennedy was assassinated, and creates an astonishing microcosm of that time. Anyone who has a genuine interest in history should see this film.
RFK is almost a forgotten figure today but once he was the hope of those who embraced Martin Luther King's vision for civil rights and those who sought to end the war in Vietnam and make our country a better, more democratic place.
This idealism and hopefulness was the quintessential timber of the sixties, and what was wiped away in 1968 by the back to back assassinations of MLK and RFK, and the police brutality at the Chicago Democratic convention that followed.
It was the opening of the cynicism of the darker 1970s, and set the country on a more radical and more violent path, turning from hope to disillusionment and anger. The Sixties and Seventies are now often confused as a pre-Reagan jumble, so it is nice to see the history presented with such crystal clarity.
The focus of "Bobby" is an ensemble cast of fictional characters whose lives overlap at the Ambassador Hotel on the day when the assassination occurs. Kennedy appears in the film only in archival footage, and occasional bits of his speeches pepper the film. Each character is also a brilliantly crafted personality but also represents something about 1968 America.
"Bobby" features an all-star cast that includes Ashton Kutcher, Demi Moore, and many others. Anthony Hopkins plays the retired doorman who still hangs out in the lobby, regaling everyone with tales of the Ambassador Hotel's glory days, between chess games with a fellow retiree played by Harry Belafonte. The hotel's likeable manager (William H. Macy) is liberal enough to be outraged that the racist kitchen manager, played well by Christian Slater, who refuses to give the kitchen staff time off to vote, complaining that "they can't vote because most of them are illegal anyway."
Yet he cheats on his wife (Sharon Stone), who works has a hairdresser in the hotel, with a switchboard operator names Angela (Heather Graham) in this pre-feminist time. Laurence Fishburne plays the hotel's chef, a former civil rights activist who is sagely unimpressed by the bluster of some of the hotel's Hispanic kitchen staff.
Cesar Chavez is just organizing farm workers but thoughts of equality take a back seat to interest in the night's baseball showdown, to which Jose (Freddie Rodriguez) has tickets.
A number of characters touch on this pre-feminist theme, including the long married couple with a wife, played by Helen Hunt whose self esteem is so wrapped up in her appearance.
A young woman, in a surprisingly restrained, touching turn by Lindsay Lohan, is planning a quick wedding to a friend (Elijah Wood) to keep him from being drafted and sent to Vietnam. Shia Leboef is one of two campaign workers whose experiments with drugs go a bit awry, leading comic elements and foreshadowing the recreational drug culture of the '70s.
Estevez shifts the film seamlessly from story line to story line, crafting a rich tapestry until all the characters gather together to hear Kennedy speak after winning the California primary. Archival footage is blended with the actors, as we witness the murder and its ensuing chaos, and a large portion of one of RFK's most moving speeches becomes the theme of the later part of the film.
"Bobby" is a stunningly good film, accurately evocative of its time and a skillfully constructed piece of cinema. Who knew Emilio Estevez had this marvelous historic film in him.
While it should be required viewing for any student of history for its ability to capture this pivotal point in time, it is essential, engrossing, compelling filmmaking as well, the kind of film that warrants repeated viewings.
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