DVD Release Date:  April 10, 2007
Theatrical Release Date:  November 23, 2006 (wide)
Rating:  R (for language, drug content and a scene of violence)
Genre:  Drama
Run Time:  120 min.
Director:  Emilio Estevez
Actors:  Anthony Hopkins, Helen Hunt, Martin Sheen, Emilio Estevez, Demi Moore, William H. Macy, Sharon Stone, Ashton Kutcher, Elijah Wood, Lindsay Lohan, Laurence Fishburne, Heather Graham, Shia LeBeouf, Harry Belafonte, Christian Slater, Freddy Rodriguez, Svetlana Metkina, Brian Geraghty

In “Bobby,” it’s June 4, 1968 – hours before idealism in America would be diminished, and cynicism would take hold. The assassination of presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy shortly after midnight would keep Americans divided into different classes and races – divisions that Kennedy, had he lived, might have healed.

Such is the message of Emilio Estevez’s multi-character drama, which pictures America’s troubles and hopes through the eyes of 22 people whose lives intersect that day at the Ambassador Hotel, the site where Kennedy was cut down.

The collection of characters here ranges from depressing to tolerable, but none are particularly admirable. A former doorman (Anthony Hopkins) spends his days playing chess in the hotel’s lobby, regaling his playing partner (Harry Belafonte) with tales of the good old days. The hotel manager (William H. Macy) chastises a racist supervisor (Christian Slater) for not allowing his kitchen staff to take time off to vote, even as the manager carries on an affair with a switchboard operator (Heather Graham). His wife (Sharon Stone, in a tremendous comeback performance) works as a hairdresser for the hotel’s guests, including boozy singer Virginia Fallon (Demi Moore) and an engaged woman (Lindsay Lohan) whose main reason for marriage is to save her groom (Elijah Wood) from serving in Vietnam.

It’s more than enough for two or three films, but wait, there’s more. A chef (Laurence Fishburne) promotes the teachings of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to an angry Latino (Freddy Rodriguez) who refuses to appease his superiors. Meanwhile, a husband and wife (Martin Sheen and Helen Hunt) search for a purpose to their empty lives.

So, let’s see: How much of the late-1960s ground have we covered so far? Racial strife? Check. Infidelity? Check. Vietnam? Check.

What’s left? Drugs and communism, of course! And so we watch two young Kennedy campaign volunteers (Shia LeBeouf and Brian Geraghty) take their first acid trips after a drug dealer (Ashton Kutcher) promises that the illegal substance will initiate them into a “personal relationship with God.” A Czech reporter (Svetlana Metkina) represents communism, a toxic affiliation that keeps her from scoring an interview with Kennedy, even though she insists she’s a socialist, not a communist – a distinction lost on Kennedy’s aides.