Adding some intrigue is the way the film’s setup has such relevance to today’s politics. From hanging chads on ballots to an unpopular war that has made the nation uneasy, the director does a great job of pointing out how closely related that time in history was to our own. The only difference is that in the film, during that time in America, there was a great hero. And though Estevez chooses never to show an actor’s face as Bobby Kennedy, he does show the spirit of what he meant to the nation by mixing in archival footage and voiceovers. In a very tactful way, Estevez shows that in the lives of the American people, even if things were seemingly crashing down around them with racial tension and the war in Vietnam, there was still hope.
That hope is what drives the emotional buildup to the tragic ending of the film. And even though you know how the film is going to end, it still hits you with a wave of emotion. All of that hope, hope created by a man who wanted to do right by America, hope that was lost in a pool of blood on the floor of the kitchen at the Ambassador Hotel. To say that this is a movie about a man is selling it short – it is truly a movie about hope. It is a movie that, even in a year when we saw films about the most tragic event of my generation, is the most powerful film that I have seen thus far. It is a movie that shows how much Bobby Kennedy meant to America – he saw wrong and tried to right it, he saw suffering and tried to heal it, and he saw war and tried to stop it.
Release Date: November 23, 2006
Final Grade: 
Article comments
1 - Rodney Welch
And you heard Ted Kennedy's eulogy and tried to quote it.
2 - Neil Miller
The quote from the eulogy was the tag line for the film. I found it relevant. Is there anything wrong with quoting it?
3 - Rodney Welch
Attribution would't hurt.
4 - Bob
The film did a good job of showing what else was going on that day. My problem is the title. Kennedy wasn't even shown until about an hour into this two hour film, hence, the title should be "The day Bobby was shot" since that is the subject of the film. The title "Bobby" is misleading in that it gives the impression that the entire film was about "Bobby". Also, it has been advertised as being about the last 16 hours of his life, yet he isn't even shown until he gets to the hotel shortly before his speech.
5 - jascha
Well written review.
6 - John Bailo
This was a film about change and passing. Down to the final scene where Bobby's blood splatters the principle characters. Saying "his death allowed new life".
Marriage, race, drugs -- 1968 was the tipping point. Bobby was both old and new. A breakthrough? Or the last gasp of the Old Guard.
In any case, the People had to take charge of the change. Blacks couldn't depend on King. Now Whites couldn't depend on the Kennedys. Government became less relevant to the average person, as power and wealth grew enough to let the average person enact change in their lives.