Bobby (2006)

The story of the assassination of U.S. Senator Robert F. Kennedy who was shot in the early morning hours of June 5, 1968 in the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, and 22 people in the hotel whose lives were never the same.

Director:

Emilio Estevez

Writer:

Emilio Estevez

Stars:

Harry Belafonte, Anthony Hopkins, Demi Moore

Nominated for 2 Golden Globes. Another 4 wins & 11 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Harry Belafonte	...	Nelson
Joy Bryant	...	Patricia
Nick Cannon	...	Dwayne
Emilio Estevez	...	Tim
Laurence Fishburne	...	Edward
Brian Geraghty	...	Jimmy
Heather Graham	...	Angela
Anthony Hopkins	...	John
Helen Hunt	...	Samantha
Joshua Jackson	...	Wade
David Krumholtz	...	Agent Phil
Ashton Kutcher	...	Fisher
Shia LaBeouf	...	Cooper
Lindsay Lohan	...	Diane
William H. Macy	...	Paul

Storyline

Tuesday, June 4, 1968: the California presidential primary. As day breaks Robert F. Kennedy arrives at the Ambassador Hotel; he'll campaign, then speak to supporters at midnight. To capture the texture of the late 1960s, we see vignettes at the hotel: a couple marries so he can avoid Vietnam, kitchen staff discuss race and baseball, a man cheats on his wife, another is fired for racism, a retired hotel doorman plays chess in the lobby with an old friend, a campaign strategist's wife needs a pair of black shoes, two campaign staff trip on LSD, a lounge singer is on the downhill slide. Through it all, we see and hear RFK calling for a better society and a better nation.

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Plot Keywords:

hotel | campaign | senator | chess | anti war | 

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Taglines:

22 lives linked by a moment the world would never forget

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Genres:

Drama | History

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language, drug content and a scene of violence

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [us] TFM Distribution [fr]

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

23 November 2006 (USA)

Also Known As:

El día que mataron a Kennedy

Filming Locations:

Ambassador Hotel - 3400 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$14,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£285,057 (UK) (26 January 2007)

Gross:

$11,204,499 (USA) (2 February 2007)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Weinstein Company, The, Bold Films, Bobby

Technical Specs

Runtime:

120 min 112 min 112 min

Sound Mix:

SDDS Dolby Digital DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

A few scenes were filmed at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, the real-life location of the Robert F. Kennedy assassination, during its demolition. The wing of the hotel they were using hadn't been touched by the demolition crew yet, in order to preserve items from the pantry where Kennedy was shot.

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Goofs

When John wins the chess game and Paul is called over, Paul gives John's opponent advice on how he could have won. Paul couldn't have known this so quickly without observing the game or the board for at least a few minutes.

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Quotes

Paul: Do we know anything yet?
Fire Captain: We got men on the sixth floor going from room to room. You the manager?
Paul: Paul Ebbers. And the bungalows?
Fire Captain: We're checking them now.
Female Dispatcher: 5574
Fire Captain: Roger that. It's a false alarm. False alarm. I wouldn't want to be you today.
Paul: Occupational hazard. We'll open the cafe. You or you men want coffee, a hot breakfast, it's on the house. Thanks.
Fire Captain: It'll take us a while to wrap this up, but I'll let the boys know.

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Connections

Featured in Siskel & Ebert: Episode dated 18 November 2006 (2006)

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Soundtracks

"Magic Moments"
Written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David
Performed by Perry Como
Courtesy of The RCA Records Label
By Arrangement with SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT

User Reviews

"Bobby" – an awful version of "Magnolia"

Tonight I suffered the great displeasure of seeing a free sneak preview screening of the movie "Bobby".

I walked into the movie with only the vague knowledge that the film was an ensemble piece about people that were in the Ambassador Hotel on the night of Bobby Kennedy's assassination.

As the movie started, I was very impressed with the casting. I couldn't help but think that the writer/director Emilio Estevez has a LOT of friends in show business.

Unfortunately, absolutely none of these characters were compelling or interesting in any way whatsoever and very hard to really care for. Furthermore, there was little in the way of a cohesive story or narrative. Scene after scene started to play like a vignette in an acting class and the vast majority rang falsely due to the atrocious writing.

I found myself waiting for Bobby Kennedy to be integrated into the story in some meaningful way, but that never happened. Whatever you do, don't go to this movie thinking it has much to do with Bobby Kennedy.

Finally, towards the very end of the movie when Robert Kennedy, the great orator and only charismatic character in the movie, starts to speak – the director decided to mute Kennedy's voice and play the Simon & Garfunkel song "The Sounds of Silence" over his speech! The last movie that Emilio Estevez wrote and directed was "Men at Work", an unsuccessful comedy about garbage men. He is completely out of his league with this material, and misses the mark by miles. I contemplated walking out of the theater several times as this mess unraveled on the screen.

Bottom line: avoid at all costs.