After a couple months of having Bobby in my Netflix queue and feeling as though it may never be less than a "long wait," I finally said screw it and bought it myself.
I've gotta tell you, it has been a very long time since a movie really stirred up my emotions and got me thinking. I know that the critics couldn't agree much on whether the movie was good or bad, but probably half of them didn't get that it wasn't about the assassination itself, but rather a snapshot of American culture at the time, as seen through people working in or staying at the Ambassador Hotel.
Emilio Estevez seemed to want to further memorialize Bobby Kennedy and what he stood for. The way he did that was with a lot of stock news footage and audio from speeches, very much in long form, not as sound bites. What I found remarkable is that all of the characters, regardless of background, were ultimately people that Kennedy was looking out for. There was so much hope in a time that seemed pretty hopeless and horrible. The only thing that maybe I could fault the movie for is trying to take on too much including issues of racism, immigration, poverty, depression, war... that's a lot to take itn.
The performances by most of the actors is simply amazing. None of them really stand out as leads per se, but each is amazing. Laurence Fishburne has a couple of great scenes.
Of course you now how it ends, and it brought me to tears. Part of it was the sadness that someone who really spoke from the heart, who frankly had to run for president, was gunned down for no good reason. The thing that makes me more sad is that we've never had a leader in that league in any part of my lifetime. You'll never hear these assholes running now use words like peace or love.
You just stop and wonder, what the hell happened to this country? Why have so many people turned off their brains, closed their heart and just stopped giving a shit about anything outside of their own lives?
Anyway, if you've never seen the movie. Get it. Five big stars.
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