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(Review originally written at 11 May 2007)

Can someone please explain to Mr. Estevez that movie-making is more then just filming a couple of sequences and putting them in a row?

Its intentions were good but problem with "Bobby" is that the movie just never feels as one whole. Every storyline, with each different characters seem to be shot individually and they also feel that way. I'll bet that most of the actors never actually met, while shooting. It are all small pieces of movie put together, that never really feels as one big whole.

The movie focuses on far too many character (22 and then some more) that just aren't interesting enough to follow throughout and they don't feel connected at all to each other. The only reason why the characters are still made interesting is because they are being played by some fine actors. This movie has one of the finest assembly cast since years. Apparently Emilio Estevez has a lot of friends in Hollywood. The movie shows that Sharon Stone and Demi Moore can still act and I even have to admit that I thought that Lindsay Lohan was great. Despite the small size of most of the roles, the actors are still given enough opportunity to shine, despite some horrible and overlong dialog at times. Please leave that to someone else to write next time Mr. Estevez, thank you very much!

The many characters are one of the reasons why this movie feels like such a big soap-opera! The actual plot line are also a reason why it feels like that. It's just too shallow and quite formulaic all. In the movie basically everyone is unhappy with the situations they are in, until the end when they finally start to brighten up and appreciate life and each other again, until of course the ending comes and their lives are being shattered again, by the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy (that's not a spoiler is it?), of which they are all present. Yes, I of course known that this was done intentionally, to provide the movie with subjects such as hope, dreams, racism, forgiveness, which all parallels Robert F. Kennedy's ambitions as a future president. But in the movie it seems like such a cheap and also rather predictable way to influence and steer the viewer's emotions.

In fact this movie is not about Robert F. Kennedy at all but he just serves as a backdrop for the stories of all of the other characters in the movie. So the movie its title might be a bit deceiving for some. They mostly used real archive footage for his role in this movie, which also doesn't really ever blend in with the rest, since the real footage looks old and grainy and the picture itself looks perfect and clean. It just never makes you believe that Kennedy and the movie characters are ever in the same room.

The movie just too much feels and looks like a 12 part made-for-TV mini-series. Perhaps I would had been milder about it if the movie in fact really was a 12 part mini-series.

5/10

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About Frank Veenstra

Watches movies...writes about them...and that's it for now.
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1 reacties:

  1. I think some of your negative comments about this movie are actually it's strengths. It IS about the individuals; the characters not named Bobby. If you want a history lesson, this is NOT your film. It tells the story of the times. Don't you think Estevez could have not chopped-up the scenes, or got the actors to "meet while shooting"? The directing/editting adds to the purpose and strengths of the movie.

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