Bobby (2006) * *

Directed by:  Emilio Estevez

Starring:  Emilio Estevez, Demi Moore, Sharon Stone, William H. Macy, Shia LaBeouf, Brian Geraghty, Laurence Fishburne, Nick Cannon, Christian Slater, Martin Sheen, Helen Hunt, Ashton Kutcher, Lindsay Lohan, Elijah Wood, Joshua Jackson, Anthony Hopkins, Harry Belafonte, Heather Graham, Joy Bryant, Freddy Rodriguez

There is a stirring movie to be made about Robert F. Kennedy's ill-fated 1968 Presidential run which stirred hope and idealism in Vietnam War-torn America, only to end with Kennedy's assassination in the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles .    This is not that movie.    Kennedy himself is only featured in Bobby in archive news footage and leaves a more lasting impression than any of the fictional characters writer-director Emilio Estevez chose to focus on instead of Kennedy.

Bobby bogs itself down in an endless loop of interlocking stories all taking place in the hotel on June 5, 1968, hours before Kennedy was fatally shot by Sirhan B. Sirhan.    There are entirely too many stories, too many characters to keep straight, and nowhere near the emotional tug a backdrop like Bobby deserves.     We lose track of what is going on as the movie hurries to touch all of its bases, which some characters receiving short shrift and other stories which go nowhere.  

Bobby becomes a "Wait, there's..." movie as we recognize each of the famed actors logging their first onscreen appearance.    I start to figure out their connections to each other in my mind as opposed to becoming immersed in their stories.    Martin Sheen is Estevez' father, of course, but Fishburne co-starred with Sheen in Apocalypse Now, while Demi Moore co-starred with Estevez in two films and was once his fiancée, while Moore's real-life husband at the time, Ashton Kutcher, shows up as a completely irrelevant drug dealer.    It's as if Moore put in a good word for her husband and Estevez shoehorned in a small role for him.    There are numerous connections to be sure, all of which are likely more interesting than the stories they star in.

The film captures its sense of time and place well with the aura of Kennedy's spirit pervading the hotel as the staff makes preparations for his arrival.   All of the characters will play some role in the events to come, but we don't care so any emotional impact is lost.    When Kennedy himself appears, albeit in the form of a double seen from behind while Kennedy's front is seen in the archive footage, the movie perks up slightly, if only because we know what will come.     I found this technique curious.    Why not have an actor play Kennedy?    Why the distracting editing?    Did Estevez blow his budget on hiring all of these well-known actors for cameos, so he wasn't able to afford anyone else?

The performances are fine, to be sure, but to what end?    The assassination scene and its aftermath of shock, grief, and suddenly lost aspirations of a better America are effective, but they beg the question why Estevez didn't focus his efforts more on Kennedy himself and cut out some of the extraneous subplots, which would likely be all of them.