The film Text copyright Filmverdict 2006-2007. Any film stills are copyright of their respective owners. Used without permission, sorry!
Emilio Estevez has assembled an amazing all-star cast for his latest directorial effort, an ensemble piece about the day Senator Robert F. Kennedy was shot in a Los Angeles hotel. The entirety of the film takes place in the hotel, with the narrative following a multitude of characters as they carry out their assorted duties. Although it is not a regular day (it's presidential primary day), the mundaneness of some of the plot threads makes them less interesting than they could be. It's thanks to the cast that the film never gets boring, as well as some moments of humour. Some of the strands are better than others, with the one involving William H. Macy's character the most absorbing. Other performances that manage to stand out from the crowd come from Sharon Stone and Freddy Rodriguez (who is quietly building himself a pretty good filmography). Estevez manages to give all of the characters something to do, except Anthony Hopkins, whose subplot is virtually non-existent. Senator Kennedy only makes an appearance in the narrative near the end, and at this point the interest level picks up considerably. The film is interspersed at several points with actual archive footage of Kennedy, and these are perhaps the most interesting parts. When all of the characters' storylines coalesce at the climax, the dramatised parts are cleverly intermingled with the original footage. The satisfying and well-executed ending makes the sometimes-slow earlier sections worthwhile.
The summary
Bobby occasionally feels like a long haul (even though it's less than two hours long), but the excellent ending, cast and snippets of real footage make the film worth watching.
