Bobby is the story of the people and the staff of the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles and all the events, which lead up to the night of Robert F. Kennedy landslide victory in the California primary on the way to his presidential bid, which ended instead in his assassination. Because of the fantastic ensemble cast of over 30 really famous actors, the Ambassador Hotel is actually the main character in this film. It is a location, but it is more than only a location. John (played by Antony Hopkins) has worked there for decades. He has greeted Kings and Queens, Presidents and Shahs, Emirs and even communist leaders. They have all, on occasion, had the need to come to Los Angeles, and they all stayed at the world-famous Ambassador Hotel. The staff is responsive, the service impeccable, and one would always find a major talent headlining the club in the hotel. In this time, the headliner was Virginia (played by Demi Moore). She is tired of her husband Tim (played by Emilio Estevez). Her career is on the wane and there seems to be nothing anyone, including her agent Phil (played by David Krumholtz), can do about it. Instead of getting her a film, the best thing Phil can do is get her a performance for the summer months in Las Vegas.
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It is not only the star performing at the hotel we get to learn about. We also get to see the inner-workings of how such a hotel operates. We learn about the busboy Jose (played by Freddy Rodriguez). who has tickets to probably the best Los Angeles Dodgers baseball game in history when Sandy Koufax pitches his sixth straight shut-out game, setting a new world record at the time. Even though Jose has tickets, he cannot go because his Food and Beverage Manager Daryl (played by Christian Slater) forces him to work a double-shift as a busboy. To make matters worse, the black chef Edward (played by Laurence Fishburne) is getting the night off, reinforcing the racial differences which existed at the time between black and Latinos.
The hotel manager Paul (played by William H. Macy) fires the Food and Beverage guy Daryl because he is obviously prejudiced for how Drayl thinks very disgracefully about the blacks who work for him and even worse about the Hispanics who he calls “wet-backs.” Unfortunately, the hotel manager Paul himself is not without personal faults. Paul has secretly been having an affair with one of the telephone operators of the hotel named Angela (played by Heather Graham). Paul sees her for the last time for sex and breaks off the relationship, but not before the Food & Beverage guy Daryl sees her enter the hotel room for their secret tryst.
The wife of the hotel manager, Miriam (played by Sharon Stone) works in the hotel as a manicurist so it is very easy for the Food & Beverage guy Daryl to rat out what is happening to her and to tell her about her husband's cheating. Daryl does this to get even with Paul for being fired. After Paul's wife Miriam confronts him with information she received from the Food & Beverage guy Daryl about the affair, the hotel manager Paul finds Daryl in the kitchen and punches Daryl out for what he told his wife Miriam.
Meanwhile, there are over one thousand people in the grand ballroom of the hotel waiting for the results of the election primary. Two of Robert Kennedy's political aides get so high on LSD they are not able to vote. Another aide who is a black American, Dwayne (played by Nick Cannon) is ineffective stopping voter fraud in the black areas of Los Angeles, but it makes no difference. Robert Kennedy wins the California primary by a landslide anyway.
Robert Kennedy gives a rousing speech and then leaves the hotel by way of going through the corridor which passes through the kitchen to the rear entrance. On the way, he is shot by a lone assailant Sirhan Sirhan (played by David Kobzantsev) who also shoots many others in the melee. Robert Kennedy is the only one who dies from the shooting. The others, who are shot, survive. Many of the people we have come to learn more about during the film are wounded. The Hotel Manager Paul gives aide to the Food & Beverage guy Daryl who is shot, even Daryl is the one who he fought with before. The Latino busboy Jose is shot. The wife of a prominent party member Samantha (played by Helen Hunt) is shot. The two political activists, Cooper (played by Shia LaBeouf) and Wade (played by Joshua Jackson), who worked for the campaign effort but got high on LSD also get shot. There is pandemonium everywhere while they all rush to get an ambulance for the presidential candidate who dies. Real footage from the political campaign and the assassination is used in the film. The film ends with a speech by Robert Kennedy about how we must all learn to put violence away, learn how to work together, and recognize each other as brothers.
Best part of story, including ending:
The most interesting thing about this film is it gives the back-story of all the people who were actually there on the evening of the assassination of Robert Kennedy, what they were doing, what lead them to be there, and how flawed they were as human beings. The mixture of real footage, which is digitally re-mastered, with new film footage is flawless.
Best scene in story:
The scene where the jubilation of Robert Kennedy, from winning the victory in the California primary, changes to him being shot in the kitchen corridor, is the most poignant.
Opinion about the main character:
After this real event occurred, the Ambassador Hotel completely died and was shut down. It was cursed from this event.
