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Bob Roberts | Year: 1992 Directed: - Tim Robbins Actors/Actresses: - Tim Robbins Tim Robbins, Prophet. When I first saw Tim Robbins' political satire, "Bob Roberts," I had an extremely negative reaction because of what I perceived as the film's smug humorlessness and lack of correspondence to anything resembling political reality. I still think the film isn't as funny as it should be, and is too self-congratulatory by half. But perhaps Mr. Robbins deserves to indulge in a little self-congratulation, for his political prescience is now obvious: George W. Bush IS Bob Roberts. Bush may not sing or play the guitar, but man, he sure plays to the camera--whether landing in a fighter jet on an aircraft carrier or serving fake turkey to the troops in Iraq--while dancing on our basic freedoms and international prestige with football cleats. Similarly, the sinister political adviser played by Alan Rickman now seems a perfect amalgam of Dick Cheney, Karl Rove, Donald Rumsfeld, John Ashcroft and others in the Rogues' Gallery of the Bush Administration. And though I found the zombie-like devotion of the followers of the cold, unappealing Roberts hard to believe, it's no less believable than the fealty that millions of voters swear to Bush. Robbins' spring 2003 speech before the National Press Club--which he made in the wake of being disinvited to the 15th-anniversary celebration of "Bull Durham" because of his stand against the Iraq war--is a brilliant political document, and one that underlines the culmination of many of the dangers Robbins warned against in "Bob Roberts." So while I still don't think this is a particularly good movie from the standpoint of entertainment, its obvious political astuteness mandates my upgrading it from one star to three. Occasionally heavy-handed, but still both funny and chilling "Bob Roberts," Tim Robbins' 1992 fictional account of the political campaign of a folk-singing conservative businessman, is a remarkable film. Echoing D.A. Pennebaker's 1966 documentary "Don't Look Back" (which covered Bob Dylan's 1965 U.K. tour; a number of scenes in "Bob Roberts" are cribbed directly from the Pennebaker film), "Bob Roberts" follows the title character (played by Robbins, who also directs and writes here) in his 1990 Senatorial campaign against Brickley Paiste, a once-vigorous, but now-weary and increasingly disenchanted New Frontier-era liberal democrat (played by author Gore Vidal). Roberts, who had made a fortune on Wall Street during the '80s, first gains national attention in the late '80s with a pair of critically panned, but commercially successful albums (clever homages to two early '60s Dylan albums) of right-wing country-folk songs. Using his musical fame as a springboard, Roberts embarks on his political career, backed by press aide Chet MacGregor (Ray Wise) and the shadowy Lukas Hart III (Alan Rickman, whose Mephistophelean presence almost steals the movie). Along the way, Roberts is tailed by journalist Bugs Raplin (Giancarlo Esposito), who is eventually framed for an assassination attempt on Roberts when he gets too close to uncovering Hart's and Roberts' shady involvement in both the Iran-Contra and S&L debacles of the '80s. Largely viewed at the time of its release as a broad slap at the New Right, in retrospect Robbins is nearly as critical of the Old Left. Vidal's Brickley Paiste is old, tired, and nearly irrelevant (and, sadly, seems to know it). If Robbins is scathing in his indictment of the Right, Paiste symbolizes Robbins' criticism of the Left for their lack of energy and ideas. Given the kind of pasting Democrats received in the '94 election, more of them would have done well to pay attention to Robbins' uncannily prescient warning. Cameos abound. Watch for the likes of Susan Sarandon, Helen Hunt, and others as reporters, as well as country singer Kelly Willis as Joan Baez to Robbins' Dylan. One final note: In a perfect example of life imitating art once again, "Bob Roberts" neatly foreshadowed R.J. Cutler and David Van Taylor's "A Perfect Candidate," a 1996 documentary of Oliver North's 1994 Virginia Senate campaign. Ironically, Cutler had been invited by North's handlers to film the campaign because they had liked his earlier documentary, "The War Room," on which Cutler had worked with - you guessed it - D.A. Pennebaker. Watch all three in chronological order someday if you have the time. ultimate election night party DVD This is a great DVD to watch with friends during an election year. We had a group of 15 people howling with laughter. You have to love a politician who closes a letter to a 7-year-old Vermont girl with the admonition "Don't do crack; it's a ghetto drug." Buy Bob Roberts at Amazon.com Buy posters at Allposters.com Jamster - the latest ringtones for your phone!  Search with Walhello on the Internet on Bob Roberts Search with the Priority Search Engine on Bob Roberts This page in other languages: Suomeksi | Nederlands | Deutsch
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