Solemplex To me, this movie is perfection.
AnhartLinkin This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.
Ava-Grace Willis Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.
Juana what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.
framptonhollis "Bob Roberts" is a hilarious and scathing satire that pokes fun at right wing politicians perhaps a little too harshly-but it's still great (and sometimes depressingly accurate) fun. If your politics are anti- Republican/conservative, than you will likely have a ball watching this movie! Right wingers may be a little offended by it, and I can't blame them all too much, since it is so critical of their beliefs, and after a shocking final twist, the main characters are all revealed to be even more scummy than they originally seemed. But, at times, "Bob Roberts" also pokes fun at the media, extreme left wingers (not sure if this satire was intentional, though, but it seems like it), and just the nature politics in general.Tim Robbins writes, directs, and stars in this film-and does a great job, leading a cast of many fine and interesting actors that range from Ray Wise to Jack Black.This is definitely an entertaining watch for those who agree with its politics. For others, it is perfect rage fuel.
stosthomas Recently, I had a chance to re-visit this film after not seeing it for a while, and to me this film has acquired some new meaning since it was released back in the early 90's. Our country has seen quite a bit of political upheaval since the release of this film, and when you read the current headlines dealing with the new, extreme version of the Republican/Tea Party, you can't help but think that this film was far head of it's time in predicting the new wave of conservatives that we are currently seeing in this country. You could almost imagine Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity, Bill O'Reilly, Rush Limbaugh, as well as Sarah Palin, Michelle Bachmann, John Boehner, Eric Cantor, and all of the other extreme right/Teaparty personalities being in this film. When you look at Jack Black's character staring blankly into the camera while he and his brothers profess their love for Bob Roberts, you can almost transpose them into the faces of the current Teaparty Republicans. And the speech that Giancarlo Esposito's character Bugs Raplin gives towards the end of the film about how corporate media doesn't want to tell you the truth almost accurately predicts what we are seeing now with many media outlets being owned by corporations such as GE, Comcast, Time Warner and others who dilute the information we see every day on TV.For me, this film was perhaps more visionary than originally intended, and in future years might be looked at not as political satire, but as a very keen predictor of what has happened to our political process and the watering down of the corporate news media.
TBJCSKCNRRQTreviews It was by chance that I saw this; it was on television, and when I looked it up, I immediately wanted to watch it. This is a mockumentary(staged documentary) about a fictitious campaign, and its satire is biting with a lasting sting. What makes this work so well is that it transcends the politics; this isn't really about Right or Left wing. Roberts uses pure demagogy, peddling easy solutions, and never making it entirely clear what he intends to *do*. Thus, his potential voters themselves fill in the vacuum with how they, personally, think the country should be run. This film excellently points out this danger of democracy, promoting eternal vigilance. It doesn't matter what actual stance Robbins(for the record, I'm not a fan of his) has outside of this movie, it is not relevant. If I had to say anything negative about this, it would probably be that it is arguably quite black and white, but maybe this was intentional, and what it is speaking ill of is not something that should be defended. The writing is sharp, and the script and dialog are marvelous. I enjoyed the numerous references to Bob Dylan immensely. The acting is great(and there are many big names in small roles in this). This was Jack Black's debut, and I'm surprised to say that he's really good in it. The editing and cinematography are well-done. There is a bit of strong language in this. I recommend this to anyone informed enough to appreciate it. Terrifying and memorable. 8/10
ccthemovieman-1 Not much as changed, regarding Tim Robbins, his left-wing extremism and his inability to articulate. I recently saw him interviewed and all he could answer - to reporter who asked him a serious question - was, "Well, YOU the Army!" The man is a typical ultra-Liberal of the last decade: full of hate and insults, but no solutions to anything.Never better was that presented in this lame so-called "satire," which was just another vehicle for a Hollywood Loony Left-winger to expunge his hatred of conservatives, Republicans, Christians, etc. Robbins has the conservative Republican political candidate as a little bit below Neanderthal status. Yup, that ignorant right-winger is a liar, a thief, racist, homophobic, nasty, mean, corrupt and who knows what else. (Little did Robbins know he was describing today's Democratic candidates to a tee!)Robbins tries to disguise his heavy-handed attempts at doing nothing but ingratiating himself with the Liberal Hollywood bigwigs with some folksy songs and says all of this is just a "satire." Puh-leeze. It's obvious what the intent of the film was, and it wasn't for lighthearted laughs. If nothing else, the casting of Gore Vidal tells you something. He's not even an actor, but being a left-wing icon, he gets a role.One thing this movie did well: it gave us a prime example of Hollywood and its extreme political leanings and bias.....and total disdain for the American viewing public, which appropriately turned thumbs down on this propaganda piece.
