The film’s focus is on the “little people,” who range from the recently retired hotel doorman (Anthony Hopkins), who plays chess in the lobby with a fellow retiree (Harry Belafonte), to the rocky relationship between the headliner in the hotel’s Coconut Grove nightspot, (Demi Moore), who is an abusive lush, and her ever-patient emasculated husband (Estevez), who walks her dog as he rides her gravy train..
Estevez bounces back and forth between these stories. It’s quickly clear that some are meant to underline the events and sentiments that propelled the United States in that era. Thus, there’s the poignant story of a young woman (Lindsay Lohan) who is marrying a longtime friend (Elijah Wood) not out of love, but to save him from what they feel is certain to be a military assignment in Vietnam.
For comic relief, there’s a pair of teenage Kennedy campaign aides (Brian Geraghty and Shia LeBeouf) who, instead of ringing doorbells to get out the vote in the primary, hightail it to the hotel room of a hippie drug dealer (Ashton Kutcher) for marijuana. Instead, they are persuaded to ingest sugar cubes laced with LSD, which sends them on a wild, psychedelic acid trip.
A subplot about the Hispanic kitchen staff seems closest to today’s headlines, reflecting the plight of immigrant workers. Here Freddy Rodriguez plays a young busboy who’d rather be watching a pivotal Los Angeles Dodgers baseball game than following his last-minute assignment to cover the Kennedy campaign dinner. Jacob Vargas is his belligerently angry co-worker, who feels downtrodden by the system. Christian Slater is their slightly bigoted boss. Laurence Fishburne is a cook who turns up to reflect on what is needed to change the less-than-fair racially charged system: Every now and then Bobby pauses to deliver a philosophical message that is supposed to be uplifting, but too often sounds preachy.
These characters are leagues away from the wealthy stockbrocker (Martin Sheen, Estevez’s father in real life) who arrives at the Ambassador with his pretty, pampered wife (Helen Hunt), on their way to what they hope will be that night’s victory party for RFK and a revival of their strained marriage.
Less attuned to the film’s particular focus is Sharon Stone as the hotel’s flashy hairdresser; her purpose in the plot is to steer Lohan’s and Moore’s characters toward the right path. Yet one fears trouble ahead because Stone’s Miriam is married to the hotel manager (William H. Macy), who is having that adulterous affair with the switchboard operator.
Whew! There sure is a lot of soap opera froth to swim through in Bobby, although fortunately much of it is anecdotally interesting, if not earth-shattering...Review
The movie was given the name BOBBY, but it is more the timeframe of events involving the "little people" on the day(s) during this historical event in history. The title leads one to believe it is about RFK; when, in fact, it is not. It is just a piece of fiction..a Hollywood movie..out to make lots of big bucks for your entertainment purpose only.
Thanks for the enlightening review. I can think of a lot of others ways to spend or waste a couple of hours. I think I'll stick to reading.
The pivotal game was Dodger pitcher Don Drysdale's sixth consecutive shutout, which broke the world's record. I was at Dodger Stadium on May 31, 1968, when Drysdale tied the record. As I entered the stadium, a young man passing out campaign literature asked me, "do you want to vote for Senator Kennedy?" I answered, "no thanks, I'd rather not." I may have been too young to vote at the time, but I was old enough to have an opinion.