Movies in the middle of May

I watched two interesting movies over the weekend.

Bobby is the fictionalized story of people who happened to be in the Ambassador Hotel the night RFK was assassinated. The movie looks at the events in each persons life on the day of the California primary in 1968. I was a bit wary about this movie because I hated Forest Gump and this seemed to be the same genre. But Bobby seemed to stay more true to history than Gump ever did. I didn't have to suspend belief to buy into what was happening on the screen.

From a political perspective, I was struck by what a liberal Kennedy was. Imagine what may have happened if such a liberal had been elected President in 1968. In all likelihood Jimmy Carter never would have been President and I wonder if Reagan would have ever made the move east.

I was also intrigued by the strong sense of place felt in the movie. The Ambassador Hotel, which was imploded a couple of years ago, played as much of a starring role as Bobby Kennedy did. The director and producers did a fantastic job of setting up this luxury hotel as a microcosm for America. There were the famous, the wealthy, the middle class managers and the middle class working stiffs, the retired, the students, the addicts, the dreamers, the radicals, the blacks, the browns, the whites and the working poor. Each segment of society was portrayed by one or two actors on screen and the roles were all tied together by the grand Ambassador Hotel.

As it is in the real world, our lives are bound to others by our connection with where we are and where we have been.

The title Bobby is a bit misleading, actually, for while his candidacy and his ideals play a central role in the telling of the story, the movie is really a look at America and the American dream. The movie is relentlessly optimistic. Even as the movie spills blood and tragedy as Kennedy is assassinated it also shows individuals uniting to care for each other.

It was a nice movie.

The other movie I watched was Stranger than Fiction. As I was watching the movie I kept thinking, "I wish this were a better movie because I really like it." Now, 24 hours later, I still really like it and can't get it out of my head. I think the movie was acted beautifully. I really enjoyed the individual performances although I didn't think the characters blended together all that well. I also thought the movie plodded a bit. At the same time, however, I really liked it. Have I said that before? I wish I could say more good things about it.