Rating: 
Summary: Occasionally heavy-handed, but still both funny and chilling
Review: "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.
Rating: 
Summary: Tim Robbins, Prophet.
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
Review: This movie should not be listed as a comedy, as it's far more a drama.The good: Definitely memorable for it's creepiness, and reality that something like this can and probably has happened. The bad: it doesn't work as a documentary style film, as Best in Show or Waiting For Guffman later did. The ugly: poor acting by many members of the supporting cast. The poor acting makes it even less believable as a documentary, because nobody in "real life" acts the way some of these characters do. At times it seems that the actors are amateurs practicing the scenes for the first time. 5/10
Rating: 
Summary: The Best Film Ever Made About Politics and Power in America
Review: How do you give a film more than five stars? For "Bob Roberts" is the best, bar none, film about politics andpower in the United States. It is entertaining; it is enlightening; it is an amusing, satirical romp that time has not rendered out-of-date. Indeed, ten years after its release, it is more timely than ever. This is due in part to Tim Robbins' deft talent for poking all sorts of holes in the balloons of the sanctimonious prigs who comprise the right wing of the nation's political spectrum. But, above all, it is due to the presence in the film of our greatest living writer and man of letters, Gore Vidal. Vidal's portrayal of incumbant senator Brickley Paste (D-PA), under siege from a folk-singing "rebel" Neanderthal (of course, Bob Roberts), is pointed, ironic and above all else educational. For in his regretably short time on the screen, Vidal lays open for us his view of recent American history, all in that tired but wise man of the world way he has of stating truths that no one else (save people like Noam Chomsky and Christopher Hitchens) has the guts to say. "Bob Roberts" is ultimately a film that brings us beneath the surface of American politics; and for this reason I suspect that it will never become as popular as other great political films, such as "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" and "The Last Hurrah." For these are the films that depict politics as we would like it to be ("Mr. Smith") or at least as we can tolerate it to be (" The Last Hurrah"). They do not however depict politics as it has become. In this respect, "Bob Roberts" is the perfect sequel to "The Last Hurrah;" but the substance of its message is so painful that only the most ardently committed to civil liberties and a republican (small "r")form of government can bear
it.
Rating:
Summary: References to other documentaries
Review: To better appreciate this movie, it's good to know that it makes references (many, in fact) to the 1966 Bob Dylan documentary "Don't Look Back." If you haven't seen this earlier movie, naturally you won't pick up on these references (which are funny). What's interesting, though, is that at about the same time "Bob Roberts" was being made, the director of "Don't Look Back" was making a documentary (or perhaps had made ...), similar in nature to his earlier film, about Bill Clinton's campaign for the presidency called "The War Room." Cinema verite, no doubt.
Rating:
Summary: Occasionally heavy-handed, but still both funny and chilling
Review: "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.
Rating:
Summary: References to other documentaries
Review: To better appreciate this movie, it's good to know that it makes references (many, in fact) to the 1966 Bob Dylan documentary "Don't Look Back." If you haven't seen this earlier movie, naturally you won't pick up on these references (which are funny). What's interesting, though, is that at about the same time "Bob Roberts" was being made, the director of "Don't Look Back" was making a documentary (or perhaps had made ...), similar in nature to his earlier film, about Bill Clinton's campaign for the presidency called "The War Room." Cinema verite, no doubt.
Rating:
Summary: Make Money by any means Necessary
Review: By 1992, actor and leftist-liberal firebrand Tim Robbins had come a long way since his thankless role in the George Lucas uber-flop "Howard the Duck", and "Bob Roberts" displayed that the actor who had turned in fine performances in gritty movies like "The Player", "Jacob's Ladder", and---erm---"Erik the Viking" (he played Erik, and *I* liked it, anyway) had solid directorial chops, as well. "Bob Roberts" is a gimlet-eyed little mockumentary chronicling the rise, fall and rise of merciless, villainous, Machiavellian and media-savvy politician Bob Roberts, who---as the film's opening sequence makes clear---is a man of many talents: former West Pointer, Wall Street trader and stock market guru, self-made millionaire, and right-wing folk singer. Folk singer? That's the clever little hook on which Robbins hangs his skillful little fusillade against mindless political partisanship: Roberts has appropriated the Rebel Prophet image crafted at Woodstock for himself, and---horrors!---for right-wing Republican politics. Roberts is an ingenious political animal, having picked up a guitar and made the transition from Woodstock to Wall Street---and now he wants Main Street. The plot is simplicity itself: "Bob Roberts" is played with a straight face as the'documentary' of the 1992 Bob Roberts Pennsylvania senatorial campaign, produced and 'directed' by fictional documentarian Terry Manchester (played convincingly by veteran British actor Brian Murray). Robbins, along with cinematographer Jean LePine (who worked with Robbins on "The Player), has captured the documentary feel---and shows a flair for music videos as well; the Roberts remake of an old Bob Dylan video (entitled "Wall Street Rap") is one of the funniest things I've ever seen, and continues Roberts's plunder of leftist icons: the last cue-cards Roberts tosses into the street read: "Make...Money...by..any...Means...Necessary". Robbins keeps up a taut and feverish MTV-like pace, charting Roberts's professional and political ride through interviews with parents, teachers, and friends, splicing them together with television appearances, interviews aboard the Roberts campaign bus (which doubles as a fully functional stock trading floor), and sequences from Roberts's folk concerts, where the candidate takes up his guitar and comes across as what might have happened had someone spliced Bob Dylan's genes with those of Rush Limbaugh. That said, Robbins keeps the fun, intrigue, and political chicanery at a boil, and "Bob Roberts" is studded with famous faces all pulling off solid performances: Gore Vidal as the calcified liberal opponent, a young Jack Black as Bob's Number One Fan, Giancarlo Esposito as the tireless independent reporter digging for the truth, Alan Rickman as a scowling campaign supporter (and Black Ops mastermind) in dark glasses, Ray Wise as the gung-ho campaign manager, and Susan Sarandon, Fred Ward, and James Spader as clueless (and absolutely hysterical!) network TV anchors round out the C-SPAN-fueled goodness. "Bob Roberts" occasionally stumbles: the sequence on the comedy-show "Cutting Edge" is just painful, and comes across as sour and false. But that's a small complaint for the best 'mockumentary' since "This is Spinal Tap", and it's a nice antidote to the deadly serious, nasty real-life politics of our own combative age. Now if they'd just release the soundtrack...
Rating:
Summary: Hillarious
Review: I couldn't believe how funny this movie was considering the fact that it was a film about politics with non other than the anti-american pair of Tim Robbins and Susan Sarandan. For someone from the right this was an eye-opener into the psychodynamics of the confused liberal mind. This movie is incredibly funny in that at the same time it is a left wing critique of, and an unwitting self-expose into how misunderstanding Robbins and the like are of conservatism.
Rating:
Summary: Celebs paid to spout views-accidentally entertain
Review: Much to my consternation, many celebrity friends of Tim Robbins (Bob Roberts) and Susan Sarandon (Tawna Titan) were very vocal in their disapproval of the recent Iraqi engagement. They did this for free using their celebrity-access to the press to expound personal views. Ten years ago they were getting paid (I assume) to film this heavy-handed, although thought-provoking to be sure, political message under the guise of satire to attain the same goal. I purchased this film 'used' for one-cent, thereby purposefully not helping their cause. Hey, even the non-famous can make a statement. 'Bob Roberts', presented as a documentary, was their attempt to reveal to an uneducated populous just how easy it is for a corrupt right-wing candidate to mislead the unsuspecting voter by playing on the voter's emotions and by making use of the great 'political machine' and the press. Make no mistake, the group of liberals responsible for this film truly believe the conservative-right is naive and totally not paying attention. Ergo, 'Bob Roberts'. I am guessing they weren't entirely successful, given the limited popularity of the film. However, by sheer accident they succeeded on several unintended levels. The film is entertaining and revealing, as well as frightening. It is possible for a conservative to view the points of the 'other side' without being brainwashed, but without question the public can be mislead by politicians and the government. But be aware and beware, this talent of misdirection is not restricted to conservative politicians. Liberal politicians are masters at manipulation as well. Voters of both parties need to be informed - period. Every young actor in the film, (in addition to Robbins we see; James Spader, Peter Gallagher, Ray Wise, John Cusack, and many, many others, as there are more cameos in this film than you'll find in any jewelry case) presumably appearing to disclose and support their personal political stance by association, resembles a liberal politician in their physical appearance (some young Kennedy to be exact) much more than any conservative. Thereby proving actors are NOT wolves in sheep's clothing, just wolves in wolves' clothing. Fanatics are fanatical regardless of their views. Giancarlo Esposito (Bugs Raplin,) the lone reporter bucking the tide of Roberts' over-blown patriotism, finally relates all his 'facts' in the same maniacal manner as any other whistle-blower. Whether the information one is endeavoring to disseminate is true or false, one is better served to retain some semblance of sanity when to trying to inform. I think they missed their mark a bit here; their personal intent would have been better served if this character had been a little less over-the-top. I happened upon this film in an effort to view the entire work of Alan Rickman. While I was already knowledgeable about the political views of most of the cast, Rickman has done a much better job (to his credit) in keeping his personal political views to himself. In any event, Alan (Lukas Hart III), consummate actor that he is, gives his usual top-notch, right-on-the-nose, flawless performance. Like most of us, he looked hotter than ever 10 years ago (though he is nothing less than gorgeous to behold even now). The voice, the bearing, the talent are all there intact and serving to make him stand out in this cast of ho-hum talent even more than he normally does. The vehicle is just not important when Alan appears on the screen. I could watch Rickman buy groceries and be mesmerized. Search amazon.com for a used copy of this video (I feel safe saying this, because they do not show they are selling new copies) and be entertained while you watch the lengths individuals will go to make a point. While you are about it; count the cameos, make note of who is on what side (if that is important to you), and most of all - behold Alan Rickman, master actor, ply his trade. That last item makes it all worthwhile!
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