Bobby (2006)

Director:

Emilio Estevez

Writer (WGA):

Emilio Estevez (written by)

Release Date:

23 November 2006 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Tagline:

He saw wrong and tried to right it. He saw suffering and tried to heal it. He saw war and tried to stop it.

Plot:

The story of the assassination of U.S. Senator Robert F. Kennedy who was shot in the early morning hours of June 5, 1968 in the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, and 22 people in the hotel whose lives were never the same.

Plot Keywords:

Hotel | Campaign | 1968 | Lounge | Friend

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Golden Globes. Another 3 wins & 11 nominations

Cast

Harry Belafonte	...	Nelson
Joy Bryant	...	Patricia
Nick Cannon	...	Dwayne
Emilio Estevez	...	Tim
Laurence Fishburne	...	Edward
Brian Geraghty	...	Jimmy
Heather Graham	...	Angela
Anthony Hopkins	...	John
Helen Hunt	...	Samantha
Joshua Jackson	...	Wade
David Krumholtz	...	Agent Phil
Ashton Kutcher	...	Fisher
Shia LaBeouf	...	Cooper
Lindsay Lohan	...	Diane
William H. Macy	...	Paul

MPAA:

Rated R for language, drug content and a scene of violence.

Runtime:

120 min | Italy:112 min (Venice Film Festival) | Canada:112 min (Toronto International Film Festival)

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Spanish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

SDDS | Dolby Digital | DTS

Certification:

Finland:K-11 | Netherlands:12 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Australia:M | Ireland:15A | Singapore:NC-16 | Malaysia:(Banned) | Germany:12 | USA:R (certificate #43067) | New Zealand:M | Portugal:M/12 | Sweden:7 | Brazil:14

Filming Locations:

Ambassador Hotel - 3400 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Weinstein Company, The

Trivia:

While the rest of the cast is made up of actors, the central role of Robert F. Kennedy is portrayed almost entirely in actual footage of the senator.

Goofs:

Continuity: In the opening sequence, Jose puts on his white jacket, buttons it at the neck and the collar is tucked in at the back. During the scene the collar becomes straight without his intervention.

Quotes:

Miriam: That poor woman... I used to be such a fan

Movie Connections:

References Grand Hotel (1932)

Soundtrack:

Mickey's Monkey

Stories of racism, infidelity, aging, the effects of the Vietnam War, drugs: Why RFK's death was so impactful

BOBBY as written and directed (and starring) Emilio Estevez is not simply a recreation of the fateful night June 6, 1968 when Bobby Kennedy was shot, though that event is meticulously dissected as the sun dawns on Los Angeles' Ambassador Hotel on that day. This film is a series of vignettes of the lives of many people (22 examples shine) whose hope for a better future than that of a country undergoing disintegration on many levels were shattered. It is about 'little people', people with choices whose responses to the death of a hero is devastating.

Racism (Christian Slater vs Laurence Fishburne vs interaction with Freddy Rodríguez and Jacob Vargas); hippie/white collar drug abuse (Ashton Kutcher dealing LSD to Brian Geraghty and Shia LaBeouf, Demi Moore's alcoholism defeating her marriage to Emilio Estevez and career as a lounge singer); aging and the problems of 'useless old people' (Harry Belafonte and Anthony Hopkins); adultery (hotel manager William Macy married to beautician Sharon Stone yet having an affair with switchboard operator Heather Graham); marriages teetering on commercialism (Martin Sheen and Helen Hunt); young political aspirants basing futures on RFK (Joshua Jackson and Nick Cannon); and the extremes to which young men will go to avoid being sent to Vietnam (Elijah Wood and Lindsay Lohan) - these are the main characters we get to know as they prepare for the evening's party for RFK and then suffer the explosive effect of the shooting by Sirhan Sirhan (David Kobzantsev). The power of the film lies in the impact Bobby Kennedy had on all of these people who represent the rest of a nation.

Estevez wisely uses film footage from life to project the speech and presence of RFK: using an actor to depict him would have made the effect less sharp. But in the end, as it seems apparent from Estevez' script, the power comes from the messages in the voice-over of Kennedy's own speeches, words to offer hope and a chance for resolution of the many conflicts that threatened to destroy the US. Would that there were minds with such thoughts speaking today when a leader is so desperately needed! The film has flaws (it would be difficult for a two hour enactment of a well known yet partially fictionalized incident not to). But the message is pungent and clear: we MUST care for each other as a country and forgo the alienation that is so rampant. A very fine film for thought. Grady Harp