Un cantante folk conservador se pasa a la política y se presenta como candidato al Senado de los Estados Unidos. No le importan los trucos sucios y las campañas de desprestigio para ganar ve... Leer todoUn cantante folk conservador se pasa a la política y se presenta como candidato al Senado de los Estados Unidos. No le importan los trucos sucios y las campañas de desprestigio para ganar ventaja sobre su oponente.Un cantante folk conservador se pasa a la política y se presenta como candidato al Senado de los Estados Unidos. No le importan los trucos sucios y las campañas de desprestigio para ganar ventaja sobre su oponente.
- Premios
- 4 premios y 4 nominaciones en total
Reseñas destacadas
There are so many broad caricatures on this film, I found myself wishing that Tim Robbins would have toned it down for the sake of believability. This film lays it on a little heavy, which keeps it from being a more important work. None the less, it is eerily more timely in 2003 than it was in 1992.
As you will read, this is a highly political movie which may be friendly or unfriendly to your political sensibilities. Keep that in mind when you read this, or any, review. ;-)
Robbins co-wrote (the screenplay and the songs), directed, and stars in this mock documentary as Bob himself, with his big, slightly smarmy grin put to good use. With the state of Pennsylvania serving as a microcosm for the U. S., we watch as Roberts visits both large cities in the state and more depressed rural towns, drawing in fervent followers (including one weirdo played by Jack Black, in his first major movie), and singing songs to "own the liberals."
Roberts has a shady financial past and surrounds himself with similar sketchy goons with a crooked idea of patriotism, like Lukas Hart, a cocky SOB who is seen in one scene demanding an apology over the "Iran Contras circus" (as he calls it in front of Congress). Those who disagree with Roberts at his rallies/concerts are physically assaulted. Media outlets who dare to question him are called "socialists," "communists," and "anti-Americans." Roberts and his circle of radicals are briefly seen in a "prayer circle," led by Hart, and the documentary filmmaker is warned not to film them. And as icing on the cake: Roberts eventually utters these words in front of his cult: "Time to Make America Great Again!"
One has to wonder, did people like Newt Gingrich, Roger Ailes, and Rush Limbaugh watch this early '90s? Seeing how Ailes got his dream "news" network launched four short years later, this was distinct possibility. The idea of the media and politics intertwining has been explored before in movies like "A Face in the Crowd" and "Network," but the semi-documentary approach to "Bob Roberts" gives it a more realistic flavor regarding American politics.
Watching this movie now is alternately amusing and eerie. Robbins is a well-known liberal who populates his movie with friends and co-stars from several of his earlier movies, including John Cusack, Peter Gallagher, and of course his partner at the time, Susan Sarandon. Alan Rickman is fantastic, as expected, as the arrogant, corrupt Hart.
The songs are twisted versions of Bob Dylan classics and could have been written by Christopher Guest and Michael McKean, but were penned by Tim Robbins and his brother David. An interesting footnote: Robbins' father was once a member of the folk band "The Highwaymen," known best for their cover of the Civil War-era song "Michael Row the Boat Ashore."
It is rather perplexing that this movie is so hard to find. NetFlix and other streaming services don't offer it. NetFlix DVD rentals don't even offer it as a DVD rental. It is available for purchase on Amazon. The fact that his movie is so buried makes one wonder if the dialogue spouted by Roberts' nemesis in the film, a reporter played by Giancarlo Esposito, at the end of the film is more accurate than we thought.
Twice I had to confirm the release date of 1992 since this film's precise and uncanny applicability to the events of this last year were amazing. The political dynamic under which this country suffers today - along with the cabal currently installed in the White House that employed precisely the same tactics as defined in this film - were recreated, or more accurately foretold, with an uncanny truthfulness, precise focus, and vivid clarity.
Tim Robbins' direction, writing, and acting were all phenomenal; I never really fully appreciated his talent and brilliance until this film; Gore Vidal's contribution was a special treat from both a fine actor and a remarkable intellect.
Well worth the time - and a replay or two to capture, fully, all of the nuance and insight of this fine work.
"Bob Roberts" was a 1992 'mock-umentry' about the election of a Republican know-nothing (the title character) to a U.S. Senate seat in Pennsylvania; in the movie Roberts wins against a too-brainy-to win Democrat played by Gore Vidal. The real 1994 U.S. Senate race in Pennsylvania featured Rick Santorum as the Republican candidate. Santorum not only had the same aggressively anti-intellectual outlook as Roberts (I understand his staff is afraid to leave him alone with the press lest he 'throw a brick'), he even used generous helpings of Roberts' faux-revolutionary rhetoric to claim that his election would be an empowerment of the common people of Pennsylvania against a murkily-described 'elite'. In fact, Santorum, like Roberts, was a front man for an economic interest - to wit, the health insurance industry - who bankrolled 95% of his lavish campaign and which was eager to replace his rival, Harris Wolford, who was an advocate for universal health coverage. Like the Vidal character, Wolford was disadvantaged by being a genuinely concerned person whose detailed worldview found it hard to stand effectively against the style of Santorum/Roberts.
Guess who represents our state today.
¿Sabías que...?
- CuriosidadesA soundtrack album was due for release on Warner Bros. Records, but it was not released because Tim Robbins didn't want the songs played outside of the movie's context.
- PifiasIn a scene where Bob gets off the bus in "Harrisburg" a police barrier clearly says "City of Philadelphia."
- Citas
Bob Roberts: [singing] Grandma felt guilty 'bout being so rich and it bothered her until the day she died. But I will take my inheritance and invest it with pride, yes invest it with pride.
- Créditos adicionalesThe credits conclude with one screen-filling four-letter word: "VOTE".
- Banda sonoraWhat Did The Teacher Tell You
Music and Lyrics by David Robbins & Tim Robbins
Produced and Arranged by David Robbins
Vocals by Novi Novog
Viola by Novi Novog
Robbins Egg Music (c) 1992, A.S.C.A.P.
Selecciones populares
- How long is Bob Roberts?Con tecnología de Alexa
Detalles
Taquilla
- Presupuesto
- 3.900.000 US$ (estimación)
- Recaudación en Estados Unidos y Canadá
- 4.479.470 US$
- Fin de semana de estreno en EE. UU. y Canadá
- 314.275 US$
- 7 sept 1992
- Recaudación en todo el mundo
- 4.479.470 US$
- Duración1 hora 42 minutos
- Mezcla de sonido
- Relación de aspecto
- 1.85 : 1