Freddy Rodriguez in "Bobby"
courtesy of the Weinstein Company
"What About Bobby?"

Robert Altman made a grand career out of creating movies that had a huge cast, with each player playing into an intricate pattern that looked whole at the end of the film. Now actor/director Emilio Estevez has fashioned a film, titled "Bobby," around the assassination of Robert Kennedy. He has assembled a huge cast of Hollywood stars and relates a variety of stories about people who either worked at or were staying at the Ambassador Hotel on the day Kennedy was shot. It is all presented in a very Robert Altman type fashion but ultimately comes off as Altman-lite as Estevez can't make his stories as cohesive as Altman always did.

Freddy Rodriguez plays a Hispanic worker at the hotel named Jose. His story is one of the most interesting as he plays a man who interacts with other characters such as the chef (Laurence Fishburne) and a co-worker named Miguel (Jacob Vargas). Jose is one of those disenfranchised people Kennedy was so determined to help.

Another storyline concerns the hotel manager (William H Macy) who is cheating on his wife (Sharon Stone) with a telephone operator (Heather Graham). The actors do an excellent job in telling this segment of the movie but what it has to do with Bobby Kennedy is not known. The same is true for a segment about an aging singer (Demi Moore) and her toady husband/manager (Estevez).

You would think a movie titled "Bobby" would have something to say about the man and his life, or at least his impact on people. Since the film ends with his assassination you never get to see if any of these characters have been affected by the man. And they certainly don't seem to have any relevance to him in their actions before the tragic event.

So what about "Bobby"? In the end you have to mark this one down as a good effort but a failure just the same. Even on DVD its disjointed stories don't cohese, and they certainly have nothing to say about Bobby Kennedy.

A livelier movie and one sure to please your kids is "Jump In: Freestyle Edition." This movie, now out on DVD, was the highest rated Disney Channel original movie ever! That means it beat even "High School Musical" and that is saying something.

Corbin Bleu and Keke Palmer star in this movie musical about competing in Dutch Jump Rope competition. It is more complex than it sounds and this sport is a strenuous one The moves are intricate and the stamina required is amazing. And when you put it all to music it gets better and better.

This is a movie the entire family can enjoy so jump in to "Jump In" and have a musical ball.

For adventure you might want to take a look at "The King Maker." This new DVD has John Rhys-Davies and Gary Stretch starring in a movie about a man who goes to the Orient to hunt for his father's killer. While there he gets involved in all kinds of political intrigue and danger.

This movie tells a story that includes war, deceit, ambition and love. All of the ingredients are there to keep you entertained. So for some great adventure try "The King Maker."

But better than any of those movies is "The Natural Director's Cut." This is the new DVD edition of "The Natural," the Robert Redford/Glen Close starrer that is the best baseball movie ever made. In this "director's cut" Barry Levinson has added or restored fifteen minutes of the movie. Plus there are tons of special "extras" about the making of the film, the history of the film, and the special effects of the film.

And if that isn't enough you get new interviews with Redford and Close about the making of the movie. Now all that is worth watching as is the movie itself. So rush down and pick up "The Natural Director's Cut." It is well worth your money.

And finally we have "Small Town Conspiracy" which is a movie inspired by events that actually happened. And they all happened around the time of the bombing of Pearl Harbor. There is a murder in Florida, an investigation, a trail of clues, and then........

This DVD stars Zen Gesner and is definitely interesting. So get this DVD and learn a backstory about something that occurred before the Pearl Harbor bombing.
 

 

 

 

 

©2007 Jackie K. Cooper

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