Bobby

 Bobby 2006

• Director: Emilio Estevez
• Based on the story: no
• Cast: Anthony Hopkins, Demi Moore, Sharon Stone, Harry Belafonte, Joy Bryant, Nick Cannon, Emilio Estevez, Laurence Fishburne, Heather Graham, Helen Hunt, Joshua Jackson, Lindsay Lohan, William H Macy, Freddie Rodríguez, Martin Sheen, Christian Slater, Elijah Wood
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Anthony Hopkins – Thor, Proof, The Human Stain, Titus, Meet Joe Black, Amistad, The Remains of the Day, Howards End, The Silence of the Lambs, 84 Charing Cross Road, Othello, The Elephant Man, Lion in Winter
• Demi Moore – GI Jane, Ghost
• Sharon Stone – The X Files, Broken Flowers
• Harry Belafonte – BlacKkKlansman, Swing Vote, Kansas City, Odds Against Tomorrow, Carmen Jones
• Joy Bryant – Antwone Fisher
• Laurence Fishburne – Man of Steel, Contagion, Akeelah and the Bee, Matrix etc, Mystic River, Othello, Boyz n the Hood, Class Action, The Colour Purple
• Heather Graham – From Hell, Lost in Space, The Ballad of Little Jo, Twin Peaks, Drugstore Cowboy
• Helen Hunt – Then She Found Me, Cast Away, Pay It Forward, As Good As It Gets, Twister, Peggy Sue Got Married
• Joshua Jackson – Fringe, Battle in Seattle
• Lindsay Lohan – Chapter 27, A Prairie Home Companion
• William H Macy - Room, Cake, Sea Biscuit, Happy Texas, Pleasantville, Fargo, Benny and Joon
• Freddie Rodríguez – Six Feet Under, Dead Presidents
• Martin Sheen – Judas and the Black Messiah, Catch Me If You Can, O, Dead Presidents, Apocalypse Now, Catch 22
• Christian Slater – True Romance, Star Trek The Undiscovered Country, Robin Hood Price of Thieves, The Name of the Rose
• Elijah Wood – The Hobbit etc, Everything Is Illuminated, Paris je t’aime, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, The Ice Storm
• Why? Harry Belafonte
• Seen: Once before. Now 30 July 2022      

       Although I was too young to vote in 1968, I campaigned for Eugene McCarthy for president because he was more radical than Robert Kennedy. Still, Kennedy would have been far better than Nixon of course and it was devastating for the country and the world when he was assassinated on 5 June as he was campaigning for the California primary election. Having recently read Harry Belafonte’s memoirs, I now know that Bobby never would have become so relatively progressive if Belafonte hadn’t repeatedly criticised and prodded him on important issues like racism, poverty, equality and the American war in Vietnam. Robert Kennedy listened which is probably why Belafonte consented to play a small part in this film.

       Which takes place behind the scenes at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles where Kennedy’s campaign had it headquarters. The retired hotel doorman (Hopkins) and his aging friend (Belafonte). A teenager (Lohan) who is about the marry her classmate (Wood) to keep him from being sent to Vietnam. Kitchen workers (Fishburne and Rodríguez) who face racism every day but try to carry on with dignity. A telephone operator (Graham) who’s having an affair with the hotel manager (Macy) who’s married to the hotel’s skilled stylist (Stone). And others. It seems that all these characters are fictional, but they add drama. Not very well though. It’s these lame stories that weaken the film. But the music is good, the spirit of the times is well portrayed, and the ending is strong. 

3 ½ * of 5