Bobby: The Worst Film of 2006

I've seen some excellent movies in the past week including Stranger Than Fiction, For Your Consideration and Volver. Tonight, however, I saw the worst which is the overblown and overhyped movie Bobby which takes place in the Ambassador Hotel the day and night Bobby Kennedy was shot. There are so many celebrity guest stars in the cast that I felt that I was having a flashback and watching a lost episode of the classic 80's Aaron Spelling TV series Hotel. There are so many interwoven half-assed plots, that you actually forget what the film is supposed to be about until the manipulative hit-you-in-the-head conclusion which uses a Bobby Kennedy speech over actual moving of the footage of the time period. I could have skipped the bad scripted fictional narrative and watched what could have been a more interesting and poignant documentary. As I sat in the theater, I kept recalling when I first saw the film Selena and couldn't wait for Selena to be shot because then I'd know the film was almost over. I felt the same way during Bobby.

Now for the acting. Demi Moore's performance is so ridiculous that I laughed out loud during her big climax where she sings Louie Louie. Then, Dawson's Creek Joshua Jackson seems to be doing some kind of weird Clooney impersonation. And, poor Christian Slater who deserves a comeback has such a poorly written role that he doesn't have a chance in this film. The kitchen scenes with Freddy Rodriguez, some other Latino actor and Laurence Fishburne are so preachy and poorly written that it was difficult to watch. Svetlana Metkina plays some Czech reporter that seems to be channeling Geraldine Chaplin's character in Robert Altman's Nashville, which is a brilliant movie that uses interwearing plots and a large cast of actors and makes many of the same politcal statements. And, I still can't figure out who the hell Harry Belafonte was supposed to be. And, can't Helen Hunt find other work anymore? Did Martin Sheen pull some strings to get her a role so she could get paid? What's the deal with Ashton kissing the asses of all Demi's exes? Why else would he embarrass himself in his role as a drug dealer? And, you will remember how much you loved St. Elmo's Fire when you seen Demi and Emilio acting together and how old they look and how old you have become and how sad it is that Emilio is now making such a bad movie. I just don't know how to explain the great Anthony Hopkins' role as actor and executive producer. At least I know why Martin Sheen HAD to appear. There is something to said about the quality of a film when the best performances come from Sharon Stone and Lindsay Lohan.

The best part of the film had nothing to do with it at all. Ralph Macchio aka The Karate Kid entered the screening behind me and I was thankful he kept his reputation in tact by being one 80's actor to not appear in Bobby. Stay gold, Ralph.