The Kennedy era comes to its end.
Emilio Estevez' directorial debut is a character-driven work, the amount of star power in each scene practically blinding. With more than a little help from his Hollywood friends, Estevez establishes himself at the helm with some promise, able to drive home the legend of
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Robert "Bobby" Kennedy in the midst of a heady ensemble work revolving around LA's notorious Ambassador Hotel.
The film takes place on June 4, 1968, the day Kennedy won the California Democratic primary for president, also the eve of his horrific assassination. Estevez sets his sights high, doing his best to capture the desperate hopes pinned on the doomed Kennedy to unite a nation splintered by war and civil unrest. However, the film's extensive use of archival footage and recordings of Bobby Kennedy's speeches accomplish this on their own without needing much help from the half-dozen storylines.
Kennedy is used as a device through which to reflect the social and political mood of the times. As he speaks of unity and equality, Mexican kitchen workers argue about their positions as "the new niggers," while Laurence Fishburne, in the hackneyed role of the philosophical cook, doles out counsel and lines from
King Arthur
about staying humble until civil rights take hold. A young lady (Lindsay Lohan) prepares to marry a man she barely knows (Elijah Wood) to keep him out of Vietnam, while Nick Cannon shows uncanny talent as a black Kennedy staff member with a resolve to elevate race relations.
Then there are those slightly less compelling storylines-some necessary, some pointless. Brian Geraghty and Shia LaBeouf provide comic relief as two campaign workers who shirk
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their duties to drop acid for the first time. Their extended tripping scene couldn't beat the film's date into our heads more. Helen Hunt and Martin Sheen star as an affluent couple learning that their possessions do not define them. Though a lovely cinematic exchange by two dynamite actors, this unfortunately feels like a forced attempt by Estevez to include his father in the film.
Each scene is acted to the hilt with little room for more. Sharon Stone commendably casts off her sexpot image for that of an aging stylist, hiding from a bad marriage behind her eye makeup. Whether being called a whore or cutting her husband's (William H Macy) hair while confronting his infidelity, she hits her dramatic high note every time.
The cast is strong, the spirit of Kennedy inspirational and the intentions of the highest order. With a little more experience, Estevez could have something.
