As you can see from that impressive cast list, this is a bit of an ensemble film, which means it runs the risk of the audience not caring about the characters. And I’m afraid it failed. I just didn’t care about any of them.
And the story itself was a whole heap of nothingness. I mean, I’m sure that it may have an impact on people who lived through the time, or for those who are big fans of Bobby Kennedy, but as a film it just didn’t work. It tried far too hard to push through some big message, but ended up coming over as heavy-handed, irrelevant and, to be blunt, crap. The various stories of the different characters are un-engaging. The acting is all fine, but the characters themselves are pointless. Pointless and boring. I kept hoping for it to end.
What did work was the insertion of clips of RFK, but to be honest, while I liked watching them I found it impossible to actually listen to anything that Bobby was saying. Maybe it was because I was so bored with the film, I don’t know.
Maybe it is because I don’t know anything about Bobby Kennedy, but this film did nothing but make me yawn. Then again, the film isn’t really about Bobby, it is about the people of the time and the affect he had on them. Everyone seemed to love him, or at least everyone in the film did, considering the fact that he got assassinated I’m sure someone must have disliked him. The film is a snapshot of one day in these various people’s lives, but that is it, there is nothing to focus on, or think about, or engage with. I just didn’t care about anything that happened.
Sure the ending works, but not because you care about any of the characters, but simply because it is people getting shot and panicking in a realistic manner. And of course because you know that this is all based on the truth.
Final verdict? Don’t bother with it. It’s crap.
IMDb | Cinematical | Edward Copeland on Film | Black Sheep Reviews
Oh shucks… I'm not sure why, since I wasn't planning on seeing this movie, but I was hoping Emilio Estevez would do well with this one.
They said summat on Empire about the shooting being the day a generation's political idealism died. Maybe if I felt that way about the day it would have helped me 'get' the movie a bit more – it still would have been dull and overdone but maybe it would have seemed less pointless. More pointy. MAYBE.
Kristina, there have been a few good reports, so maybe the fact that I feel nothing for Bobby has an impact on my viewing? Like H says :)