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Movies / On DVD / Bobby
Bobby

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Bobby (2006)

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Reviews Counted:161

Fresh:72

Rotten:89

Average Rating:5.6/10

Consensus: Despite best intentions from director Emilio Estevez and his ensemble cast, they succumb to a script filled with pointless subplots and awkward moments working too hard to parallel contemporary times.

Rated: 15

Runtime: 2 hrs

Genre: Dramas

Theatrical Release:26-01-2007

Synopsis: An ambitious labor of love from writer/director/star Emilio Estevez, BOBBY attempts to distill the hope, anger, and confusion that gripped the U.S. in the late 1960s. With the civil rights movement... An ambitious labor of love from writer/director/star Emilio Estevez, BOBBY attempts to distill the hope, anger, and confusion that gripped the U.S. in the late 1960s. With the civil rights movement still reeling from the murder of Martin Luther King, Jr. and the country embroiled in the confusion of Vietnam, Senator Robert F. Kennedy's campaign preached a message of peace and tolerance. In a style similar to the sprawling works of Robert Altman or Paul Thomas Anderson, Estevez uses the June 4th, 1969, assassination of Kennedy at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles as the means to take a snapshot of the problems facing the country as the 1960's came to an end. The hotel is a microcosm of class and race, with characters bouncing off each other until the violent conclusion. African-American head chef Edward (Laurence Fishburne) presides over a kitchen staffed primarily by Mexican Americans who are the victims of the racist restaurant manager, Timmons (Christian Slater). Timmons is reprimanded by hotel manager Paul Ebbers (William H. Macy), who is having an affair with a switchboard operator (Heather Graham) behind the back of his beautician wife (Sharon Stone). Meanwhile, a young Diane (Lindsay Lohan) prepares to marry her classmate, William (Elijah Wood), in order to save him from going to Vietnam, and two collegiate campaigners for Senator Kennedy remove their ties to take their first LSD trip, courtesy of a resident hippie drug dealer (Ashton Kutcher). Though the sheer volume of characters--and celebrities portraying them--is often overwhelming, Estevez is deft at making each plot thread convincing and involving. Though BOBBY is not a biopic and will in no way be mistaken for the definitive statement on the man or his life and times, it is thoroughly adept at distilling both his message and the time in which he fought to deliver it. [More]

Starring: Anthony Hopkins, Demi Moore, Sharon Stone, Elijah Wood

Starring: Anthony Hopkins, Demi Moore, Sharon Stone, Elijah Wood, Harry Belafonte, Nick Cannon, Emilio Estevez, Laurence Fishburne, Heather Graham, Helen Hunt, Ashton Kutcher, Shia LaBeouf, William H. Macy

Director: Emilio Estevez

Director: Emilio Estevez
Producer: Ed Bass, Holly Wiersma
Composer: Mark Isham
Studio: Weinstein Company

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Reviews for Bobby

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21 - 40 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 >> >|
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

Brilliantly directed, superbly written and beautifully acted drama with an ensemble cast that would make even Robert Altman jealous.

Full Review Source: ViewLondon | comment Comment
10/28/06
Matthew Turner
Matthew Turner
ViewLondon

A stew

Full Review Source: CinePassion | comment Comment
08/28/09
Fernando F. Croce
Fernando F. Croce
CinePassion

This movie as everything to do with Estevez' needy ego, and nothing to do with Bobby Kennedy. It is a disgrace.

Full Review Source: ColeSmithey.com | comment Comment
04/24/09
Cole Smithey
Cole Smithey
ColeSmithey.com
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Boston Phoenix | comment Comment
04/23/09
Michael Atkinson
Michael Atkinson
Boston Phoenix

a great cast but a little crowded

Full Review Source: sbs.is | comment Comment
07/05/08
Stefan Birgir Stefansson
Stefan Birgir Stefansson
sbs.is

Bobby throbs with tremendous contemporary relevance.

Full Review Source: BrandonFibbs.com | comment Comment
02/28/08
Brandon Fibbs
Brandon Fibbs
BrandonFibbs.com

Emilio Estevez has done a terrific job with Bobby , a film that explores the lives of people who were at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles the day that Robert Kennedy won the California primary and was shot to death.

Full Review Source: Movie Magazine International | comment Comment
07/22/07
Moira Sullivan
Moira Sullivan
Movie Magazine International

Despite problems with its subplots, the larger story of the times and the man are so compelling, and the actors here are so capable, that the movie succeeds.

Full Review Source: Apollo Guide | comment Comment
06/08/07
Brian Webster
Brian Webster
Apollo Guide
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution | comment Comment
05/12/07
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Sydney Morning Herald | comment Comment
03/09/07
Sydney Morning Herald

The surprisingly masterful Bobby washes over you as a lament for a lost era, a lost legacy, a lost dream of the country that could have been.

Full Review Source: Film Journal International | comment Comment
03/01/07
Frank Lovece
Frank Lovece
Film Journal International

A fascinating reflection of the times, when idealism and hope still held pride of place in the minds and hearts of the American public

Full Review Source: Urban Cinefile | comment Comment
03/01/07
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile

There's nothing worse than a movie that knows it's important, and Bobby reminds its audience of that fact in almost every scene through character development, dialogue and plot.

Full Review Source: IGN Movies | comment Comment
02/19/07
Todd Gilchrist
Todd Gilchrist
IGN Movies

The ensemble structure of 'Bobby' becomes problematic, because some the stories are clumsy and dull.

Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | comment Comment
02/11/07
Dan Lybarger
Dan Lybarger
eFilmCritic.com

Fantasy icon super-imposed over a whole menu of subconscious collective thwarted desires.

Full Review Source: WBAI Web Radio | comment Comment
02/06/07
Prairie Miller
Prairie Miller
WBAI Web Radio

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Time Out New York | comment Comment
02/03/07
Melissa Anderson
Melissa Anderson
Time Out New York

does capture the mournful finale well enough to overlook the weaknesses of Estevez's script

Full Review Source: Old School Reviews | comment Comment
01/24/07
John A. Nesbit
John A. Nesbit
Old School Reviews

While the movie is about one of our great national tragedies, it is not without hope.

Full Review Source: Laramie Movie Scope | comment Comment
01/13/07
Robert Roten
Robert Roten
Laramie Movie Scope

The screenplay is a collection of half-formed ideas andpartial character traits masquerading as fully-rounded people.

Full Review Source: Murphy's Movie Reviews | comment Comment
01/11/07
Ted Murphy
Ted Murphy
Murphy's Movie Reviews

That other Bobby (Altman) would be very proud...

Full Review Source: rec.arts.movies.reviews | comment Comment
01/02/07
David N. Butterworth
David N. Butterworth
rec.arts.movies.reviews
 
 
21 - 40 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 >> >|
all

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