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For example, Helen Hunt plays a socialite who obsesses over her wardrobe, to the bemusement or consternation of her husband (Martin Sheen). Sharon Stone plays a beautician named Miriam whose husband (William H. Macy), the hotel manager, is cheating on her with one of the switchboard operators (Heather Graham). Miriam's clients include a young woman named Diane (Lindsay Lohan)—who, against the wishes of her family, is marrying an old friend (Elijah Wood) to keep him away from the front lines in Vietnam—and Virginia Fallon (Demi Moore), an alcoholic singer who is emotionally abusive to her husband Tim (played by Estevez himself).

Sharon Stone and William H. Macy

Meanwhile, the Kennedy campaign itself exudes its own brand of less-than-perfect humanity. Despite the candidate's seemingly inclusive idealism, the highest-ranking of his aides that we encounter is Wade (Joshua Jackson), who consistently rebuffs a Czechoslovakian journalist (Svetlana Metkina) and her requests for an interview because it would not look good for Kennedy to hobnob with a Communist. And while all the other young volunteers are out knocking on doors and encouraging people to vote for Kennedy in the California primaries, Jimmy (Brian Geraghty) and Cooper (Shia Labeouf) get a wee bit sidetracked when they meet a hippie drug dealer (Ashton Kutcher) who offers them some LSD as a way of "getting closer to God."

None of these smaller stories is all that impressive in its own right, but together, they add up to a remarkable portrait of a particular time and place, and by the time Robert F. Kennedy himself arrives at the hotel, we have a good sense of why, exactly, everyone looks up to him. We also come to realize that it is in the lives of individual people—as individuals and communities—that ideals are ultimately lived out or betrayed, and the moment of Kennedy's assassination is remarkable for how it puts all that came before it into a new perspective, one that even sees opponents coming together out of a renewed prioritization of their own shared humanity. Bobby may not make the case for its messiah as much as it would like to, but on its own terms, it is a reasonably moving portrayal of a society in need of salvation.

1. What do you make of the religious references in this film? Are they just a joke? Do they reflect the sincerity of the time when the movie is set
2. The drug dealer asks his clients, "What are you looking for?" Pick a character and try to imagine how he or she would answer this question. Is everyone in this film looking for the same thing? Whatever they are looking for, are any of them looking in the right places
3. Virginia Fallon says, "We are all whores, all of us. Just some of us get paid." Why does she say this? How does it square with her treatment of her husband? How is this theme reflected, or not, in the film? Is her comment limited to women, or is it reflected in the male characters also
4. How does this film portray virtue and noble character? How is it reflected not only in a political hero, but in the everyday characters
5. What about the characters who are not so noble? Do they have their noble sides? How does, say, Timmons relate to his staff, before and after he is fired? Does firing him make him a better person, or make him relate to his staff better? How have humiliations in your own life affected you and your relationships with others?

Bobby is rated R for language (about a dozen four-letter words and another half-dozen uses of God's or Jesus' name in vain), drug content (especially involving three characters and an LSD trip), and a scene of violence (the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy). There is also some rear male nudity in the LSD trip scene.

Photos © Copyright The Weinstein Company

© 2006, Peter T. Chattaway subject to licensing agreement with Christianity Today International. All rights reserved. Click for reprint information.

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