RFK

This depiction of the life and times of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy is a good effort at capturing the essence of the man who might have been the 37th president, however I do believe that the overuse of John Kennedy's shadow throughout this film detracted somewhat from the story. Robert Kennedy did indeed feel the weight of his late brother's legacy after 1963, and the film is correct in showing this, however I would suggest that by 1966-1967, RFK had truly become his own person and the extensive use of JFK's shadow really serves no purpose other than to distract and even annoy. Performances are good overall, but I would agree with others that this film would've been better had it come out shortly after the 1968 assassination.

After using IMDb for over 7 years, this is my first comment... I'm a huge RFK fan (even though I'm only 25). I think he's the greatest democrat of the last century, and the world would be a vastly different place had his life not been abruptly ended.

That said, I thought this movie was horrible. There were a few good moments, but overall it was terrible. It portrayed RFK as someone who hallucinated about his brother all the time, and as someone who needed to be pressured into doing the right thing.

The man gave some of the greatest speeches ever written, and the actor did not do most of those speeches justice. If you really want to know who RFK was, I'd suggest watching documentaries on the history channel. The real footage is so much better than this movie, and its more entertaining.

In today's world the words of Bobby Kennedy could not be more prescient. This movie plays around 4 major speeches and is bookended by the death of JFK and RFK's himself. There are a few clunker moments (Martin Donovan as an uninspired JFK), but Linus Roache's portrayal of RFK is remarkable and James Cromwell's LBJ so much more of the essence than Gambon's in the HBO film, A Path To War. Roache received a Golden Globe nomination for his performance. See this movie for that alone.

I have for many years now felt that Robert F Kennedy was the greatest of the 4 Kennedy Brothers. This movie did nothing to change that but did give the view that RFK was very much haunted by the memory of his brother John.

While John was driven mostly by his father's desire to see one of his son's achieve greatness by becoming President of the United States. Robert seems almost reluctant to take up that torch and according to this story does so only when he realizes that the only way he can do the things he believes need to be done for the his country is by winning the Oval Office.

Roache does a marvelous job of looking and sounding like RFK. James Cromwell does a good job as LBJ. He is a fine actor just doesn't seem as over the top as the real LBJ was. David Paymer is his usual best and Ving Rhames is excellent in a somewhat small but important part as "Judge Jones".

The movie takes place between the Assassinations of John and Robert. It shows how Bobby goes from concerned to actually caring.

There's some good 60's music in it but you don't notice it a lot.

I'm writing this on Aug 25, 2002. The movie will be re-run next Wed. It's worth your time. At a time when we last had two men who were most interested in being President regardless of whether or not he'd won the election....this movie will make you wonder why we can't have men and women of great ideals and political courage today. Yes my friends there truly was a time when if someone was running for office and said he intended to help poor people he meant it and was held to his promise. If you know little about Robert Kennedy then prepare to be impressed by a great man.

A whole lot better than most made-for-TV projects. This bio-pic focuses on the life of Robert Kennedy as Senator and Presidential candidate. The story line covers a time span from the 1963 assassination of brother President John F. Kennedy to RFK's own assassination by a mad gunman on the 1968 Presidential campaign trail. The old newsreel footage and current footage could have been blended a lot better. The whole presentation is pretty bland compared to the high energy JFK by Oliver Stone. Linus Roache worked hard on getting down Bobby's mannerisms, but falls short on duplicating that Kennedy accent. James Cromwell does a remarkable portrayal of Lyndon B. Johnson. Also in the cast are: Ving Rhames, Sergio Di Zio and Marnie McPhail. Not so impressive is the numberous scenes of Robert talking to the ghost of his dead brother John played poorly by Martin Donovan. The essence of RFK's vision for a new and better America is there. Politically inclined or not, it is worth your while to watch this version of history.