Bobby (2006)

This is a well acted and directed movie about the lives of some ordinary people on one fateful day in June of 1968, the day Robbert Kennedy was killed at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles. The last five minutes or so are very emotional and poignant.

There isn't a single plot with a beginning, middle and end; instead there are several stories going on at once that all are effected by the event that happens in the kitchen of the hotel. A member of the kitchen staff may have to miss the Dodgers game for work, the retiring doorman reflects on his life as he plays chess with friends, the kitchen manager is cheating on his wife and Bobby Kenedy's staff in Los Angeles is trying to get the vote out. This is all pretty mundane stuff but the acting keeps you interested, as does the directing.

It soon becomes obvious that the hotel is a microcosm of and a metephor for American society. A City within a City is the hotel's motto. Americans from all walks of life are represented - African Americans, Mexican Americans, students, senior citizens, the rich and the poor. Each of them is touched in some way by the tragic occurrence at the end of the film. This is all set against an unpopular war abroad and racial tension at home - sound familiar?

And if all this isn't enough to interest you in the movie, then maybe the documentary footage will. Robert Kennedy is shown giving speeches as well as meeting and talking with ordinary people. CBS News veterans Walter Cronkite and Mike Wallace also appear in archival footage.

All in all, director Emilio Estevez did a fine job.

IMDB: Bobby (2006),
7 out of 10 stars with 1,302 votes.