Every few years, a movie opens that I am so eager to see that I go opening day, often to the first showing, which typically is late in the morning. I usually am disappointed. I was disappointed in Pearl Harbor. I was disappointed in the new Sean Penn version of All the King's Men. Despite disappointment, I try again next time.
And so I will try again with Bobby, which should open in Portland on Thanksgiving Day. I like the premise and the device of telling the story not of RFK per se but of how he affected a large variety of people in 1968.
"Bobby," written and directed by Emilio Estevez, revisits the night Robert F. Kennedy was gunned down at the Ambassador Hotel in 1968. With an incredible ensemble cast portraying fictionalized characters from a cross-section of America, the film follows 22 individuals who are all at the hotel for different purposes but share the common thread of anticipating Kennedy's arrival at the primary election night party, which would change their lives forever. This historic night is set against the backdrop of the cultural issues gripping the country at the time, including racism, sexual inequality and class differences.
I have an odd personal connection to this historic event, having been the Russian tutor of RFK's assassin, but I've told the story too many times at this blog to repeat it. What's important is that this event was the last straw, the death that finally killed the spirit of the left in 1968, from which it never recovered. One of the motivations in making this movie was a hope to excite young folks today about RFK's message, which was idealistic and optimistic (this, despite the personal tragedies he already had suffered). Bobby made people believe that positive change could happen.
It would be nice to anticipate a film and not be disappointed in it. The last time I remember that happening was a very, very long time ago with The French Lieutentant's Woman, a film as brilliant as the novel it's based on. Of course, Harold Pinter wrote the screenplay. On Thanksgiving I'll give anticipation another shot, hoping to see a film that captures an era without sapping it up, hoping to leave the theater with the full satisfaction and wonder that happens after witnessing great artistry. It would be something to be thankful for.
A Look Inside "Bobby"
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