Bobby

Bobby is a fictional drama written and directed by Emilio Estevez, and is set around the events of the 6th June 1968, California Presidential Primary, and the eventual assassination of Robert F. Kennedy at the Ambassador Hotel.

It has to be said, the cast list was impressive;

• John Casey (Anthony Hopkins) - The retired doorman, who never left, who's met any and all of the Hotel's famous residents.
• Diane Huber (Lindsay Lohan) and William Avary (Elijah Wood) - Diane is set to marry William, to prevent him being sent to the front line in Vietnam, but the arranged marriage becomes real when she truly falls for William.
• Tim Fallon (Emilio Estevez) and Virginia Fallon (Demi Moore) are entertainers, with both their careers and marriage dwindling.
• Mirriam Ebbers (Sharon Stone) plays a beautician married to the hotel manager Paul Ebbers (William H. Macy), who clashes with the hotel food and beverage manager, Timmons (Christian Slater). Timmons oversees numerous coloured staff members, but won’t let them out to vote, most of them are illegal, they can't vote anyway! Ebbers and Timmons clash, Timmons is fired, so is only too happy when revenge presents itself...
• Samantha (Helen Hunt) and Jack (Martin Sheen) are sponsors of the Kennedy campaign, and are attending the celebration party at the hotel.
• Wade (Joshua Jackson), Dwayne (Nick Cannon), Jimmy (Brian Geraghty), and Cooper (Shia LaBeouf) all play Kennedy volunteers working hard on the campaign trail. Or not so hard. Jimmy and Cooper spend the last day of campaigning vying for the affection of a waitress called Susan Taylor (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) and are easily distracted from their task by drug dealer called Fisher (Ashton Kutcher).
• Other characters include, Edward Robinson (Laurence Fishburne) who plays the head chef, busboys José Rojas (Freddy Rodriguez) and Miguel (Jacob Vargas) and the two switchboard operators Angela (Heather Graham) and Patricia (Joy Bryant). It is Angela's relationship with the Hotel manager, Paul Ebbers, that Timmons uses to his advantage, informing Mrs Ebbers of the affair as revenge.
• A Czech reporter is also present, Lenka Janacek (Svetlana Metkina) working in vain to get an interview with the Senator, by trying to prove herself to Wade. She eventually succeeds, but before she can meet the candidate, he's been shot.
• Finally there is Nelson (Harry Belafonte), the long-time friend of John Casey, the retired ex doorkeeper.

Each of the characters goes through their own experiences throughout that fated day, until all the character plots build into the victory party, where Senator Kennedy's electoral success is to be announced. After the announcement, the Senator is taken through the kitchen area, where many of the characters follow in a bid to meet the "Next President of the United States." From nowhere appears Sirhan Sirhan (David Kobzantsev), and shoots at Kennedy letting off several rounds. Kennedy falls to the floor fatally wounded, along with several others, William Avery, Jimmy, Cooper and Samantha.

I loved this film, I loved the way that you never saw the actor playing Kennedy's face, the only face we saw was Robert Kennedy's through a fantastic use of library footage, photographs, and recordings, melded perfectly into the story. The film doesn't pick up on any of the prosecution, trial or imprisonment of Shiran, and nor does it deign to comment on the numerous conspiracy theories. The film is purely about what America lost that day.

At the end of the film, you hear a speech by Robert Kennedy, over footage of the aftermath, and the effect it has on the characters in the film. I can't tell you what his speech was concerning, because I can't remember, but I can tell you that it was a very emotional ending.

4 Stars.

John