One movie I did not like was Emilio Estevez’s Bobby. As a film I thought Estevez managed to tell a story of a large amount of people I didn’t care one bit about, that is outside of Lawrence Fishburne and his kitchen staff and a performance by Freddy RodrÃguez that went largely ignored even though I thought it was one of the best performances of 2006 (not like there were a ton to choose from anyway). Then again, there wasn’t a ton of love for the film one way or another as the Rotten Tomatoes score reads a pitiful 44%. Basically, it’s just too bad a film about such an amazing man was limited to the stories of a bunch of inconsequential people. I understood Estevez’s goal, and it was a good idea, it just wasn’t executed all that well.
The role of Bobby Kennedy also played a small role in my living room recently as I just watched the new director’s cut of Oliver Stone’s Nixon on Blu-ray (more on that here and review coming soon). Man, now there is a movie that floats some serious conspiracy theories as well as tells a pretty good story. The three hour and 40 minute run time for the director’s cut is utterly ridiculous, but there are a few things worth talking about, just not right now.
Why I mention all this has to do with a new story at Variety saying Christopher Columbus is set to direct a feature about Robert F. Kennedy’s 1968 presidential run. This will be Columbus’s second film since 2005’s Rent as he is set to release the recently completed I Love You, Beth Cooper starring Hayden Panettiere in 2009.
The story will be based on the Thurston Clarke book “The Last Campaign: Robert F. Kennedy and 82 Days That Inspired America.” Columbus is currently set to adapt the story himself, but may bring in a co-writer to help him with the story. Of course we all know how the story ends, but if told properly it is a story that certainly holds the power to really educate and lift our spirits.
