Bobby (2006 film)Bobby is a Golden Globe Award-nominated drama film written and directed by Emilio Estevez. The film features an ensemble cast and is a fictional account of the lives of several people present during the final hours in the life of the late Senator Robert F. Kennedy, a former candidate for President of the United States, on June 6, 1968.
Bobby was released in New York and Los Angeles on November 17, 2006; wide release followed on November 23, one day after the 43rd anniversary of the assassination of Robert's brother. It premiered at the Venice Film Festival, where it received a seven-minute-long standing ovation.
Plot and characters
A fictional account of the Ambassador Hotel on the day Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated, Bobby recreates the ambience and themes of 1968, and invokes the hopes killed with Kennedy, by portraying this day in the life of 24 characters. To tell the story it uses the ensemble plot device of the Grand Hotel (film) (1932).
Anthony Hopkins stars as the retired but ever-present doorman at The Ambassador Hotel. Lindsay Lohan and Elijah Wood appear as a couple opposed to the Vietnam War who get married so Wood's character can avoid being sent to Vietnam and possible combat duty.
Emilio Estevez and Demi Moore play married entertainers on the downside of their careers.
Sharon Stone plays a beautician married to the hotel's manager (William H. Macy), who clashes with his food and beverage manager (Christian Slater) who oversees a chef (Laurence Fishburne) and busboys (Freddy Rodriguez and Jacob Vargas). Other hotel staff portrayed are two hotel phone operators (Heather Graham and Joy Bryant). Helen Hunt and Martin Sheen (Estevez's father in real life) portray married socialites and Kennedy campaign donors staying at the hotel.
Joshua Jackson (Emilio Estevez's co-star in the The Mighty Ducks trilogy), Nick Cannon, Brian Geraghty, and Shia LaBeouf play Kennedy volunteers; the latter two vie for the affection of a waitress played by Mary Elizabeth Winstead and are willingly distracted by a drugdealer (Ashton Kutcher). A Czech reporter (Svetlana Metkina) fails to get the volunteers to grant her an interview with Kennedy. Harry Belafonte rounds out the ensemble as the ex-doorman's retired friend.
Cast
Actor Role
Anthony Hopkins - John Casey
Demi Moore - Virginia Fallon
Sharon Stone - Miriam Ebbers
Elijah Wood - William Avery
Lindsay Lohan - Diane Huber
William H. Macy - Paul Ebbers
Freddy Rodriguez - José Rojas
Mary Elizabeth Winstead - Susan Taylor
Joshua Jackson - Wade
Christian Slater - Timmons
Laurence Fishburne - Edward Robinson
Nick Cannon - Dwayne
Emilio Estevez - Tim Fallon
Shia LaBeouf - Jimmy
Brian Geraghty - Cooper
Martin Sheen - Jack
Joy Bryant - Patricia
David Kobzantsev -Sirhan Sirhan
Heather Graham - Angela
Svetlana Metkina - Lenka Janacek
Harry Belafonte - Nelson
Jacob Vargas - Miguel
Ashton Kutcher - Fisher
Helen Hunt - Samantha
Dave Fraunces - Robert F. Kennedy
Spencer Garrett - David Norak
Soundtrack
The film's soundtrack is primarily a compilation of music from the 1960s. The two newly recorded tracks are "Louie Louie", sung by Demi Moore, and "Never Gonna Break my Faith", written by Bryan Adams, Elliot Kennedy and Andrea Remanda, and sung by Aretha Franklin and Mary J. Blige.
Reviews
Michael Medved gave the film Bobby three stars (out of four) calling the film "intriguing but imperfect." Medved added that "I can confirm that director/writer Emilio Estevez gets most of the feelings of the occasion right. But, the melodramatic, multi-character format proves somewhat uneven and distracting." Medved is unique amongst film critics in that he (at the time, a young Kennedy campaign volunteer) was present in the ballroom of the Ambassador Hotel when Senator Kennedy was assassinated.
This movie got a seven minute standing ovation at the Venice Film Festival. Lou Lomenick of The New York Post gave the film "Bobby" one (out of four) stars saying that it was just another rip-off of a much better film, 1975's Nashville. Dan Hall of UK site Mansized gave the film three out of five stars, calling the film "a worthy work of faction that successfully recreates the sense of political optimism that Kennedy’s assault on the White House caused."
Awards
Venice Film Festival
* Nominated for a Golden Lion, 2006 - Emilio Estevez
* Won Biografilm Award - Emilio Estevez
Hollywood Film Festival
* Won Best Ensemble Cast
* Won Best Breakthrough Actress - Lindsay Lohan
Golden Globe Award
* Nominated for Best Motion Picture - Drama
* Nominated for Best Original Song (for "Never Gonna Break My Faith" by Bryan Adams, Elliot Kennedy and Andrea Remanda).
Screen Actors Guild Awards
* Nominated for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
Phoenix Film Critics Society Awards Year Result Award Category/Recipient(s) 2006 Won PFCS Award Breakout Performance of the Year - Behind the Camera Emilio Estevez
Historical accuracy
While Bobby is a work of fiction, the film contains some historically accurate representations. Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated after midnight on June 5, 1968, in the kitchen of the Ambassador Hotel following his California Democratic primary election victory speech. In addition to Kennedy, five other people were shot, all of whom survived. Some valid political elements of his candidacy are shown. The title role of the film is almost entirely played by RFK himself. Spliced between, throughout, and within many scenes, is a patchwork of archival footage and radio broadcasts and photos of his presidential campaign along with other images and sounds of the Kennedy family, news broadcasts, and the 60s in general. A few characters may draw on the stories of real people. Paul Ebbers (William H. Macy) and Virginia Fallon (Demi Moore) may be based on Karl Uecker and Rosemary Clooney (George Clooney's aunt) respectively. Both of them were present at RFK's assassination. However, most characters and their entwining plots are fictitious, representing late 60's archetypes. The five other people shot are fictional.
Bobby does not attempt to present the RFK assassinationexactly as it occurred, nor does it offer any analysis of the murder. The five bystanders actually wounded are not portrayed, nor are most of the key people who were present (George Plimpton, Rosey Grier, Rafer Johnson, Andrew West, James Scott Enyart, Thane Eugene Cesar, David Sanchez Morales, Paul Sharaga, Sandy Serrano, etc.) There is no treatment of any conspiracy theories of whether Sirhan Sirhan acted alone, nor what his motives were. His nationality, RFK's stance on Israel, etc. are not even hinted. There is no mention of the CIA, nor of any anti-Kennedy sentiment held by any individuals, groups, or organizations.
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