[go: up one dir, main page]

    Release calendarTop 250 moviesMost popular moviesBrowse movies by genreTop box officeShowtimes & ticketsMovie newsIndia movie spotlight
    What's on TV & streamingTop 250 TV showsMost popular TV showsBrowse TV shows by genreTV news
    What to watchLatest trailersIMDb OriginalsIMDb PicksIMDb SpotlightFamily entertainment guideIMDb Podcasts
    OscarsEmmysToronto Int'l Film FestivalIMDb Stars to WatchSTARmeter AwardsAwards CentralFestival CentralAll events
    Born todayMost popular celebsCelebrity news
    Help centerContributor zonePolls
For industry professionals
  • Language
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
Watchlist
Sign in
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
Use app
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
  • FAQ
IMDbPro

Bob Roberts

  • 1992
  • R
  • 1h 42m
IMDb RATING
7.0/10
16K
YOUR RATING
Tim Robbins in Bob Roberts (1992)
Home Video Trailer from Miramax
Play trailer2:06
1 Video
53 Photos
SatireComedyDrama

A conservative folk singer turns his hand to politics and runs for the U.S. Senate, but he is not above dirty tricks and smear campaigns to gain an advantage over his opponent.A conservative folk singer turns his hand to politics and runs for the U.S. Senate, but he is not above dirty tricks and smear campaigns to gain an advantage over his opponent.A conservative folk singer turns his hand to politics and runs for the U.S. Senate, but he is not above dirty tricks and smear campaigns to gain an advantage over his opponent.

  • Director
    • Tim Robbins
  • Writer
    • Tim Robbins
  • Stars
    • Tim Robbins
    • Giancarlo Esposito
    • Alan Rickman
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    7.0/10
    16K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Tim Robbins
    • Writer
      • Tim Robbins
    • Stars
      • Tim Robbins
      • Giancarlo Esposito
      • Alan Rickman
    • 110User reviews
    • 39Critic reviews
    • 70Metascore
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 4 wins & 4 nominations total

    Videos1

    Bob Roberts
    Trailer 2:06
    Bob Roberts

    Photos53

    View Poster
    View Poster
    View Poster
    View Poster
    View Poster
    View Poster
    + 47
    View Poster

    Top cast83

    Edit
    Tim Robbins
    Tim Robbins
    • Bob Roberts
    Giancarlo Esposito
    Giancarlo Esposito
    • Bugs Raplin
    Alan Rickman
    Alan Rickman
    • Lukas Hart III
    Ray Wise
    Ray Wise
    • Chet MacGregor
    Brian Murray
    Brian Murray
    • Terry Manchester
    Gore Vidal
    Gore Vidal
    • Senator Brickley Paiste
    Rebecca Jenkins
    Rebecca Jenkins
    • Delores Perrigrew
    Harry Lennix
    Harry Lennix
    • Franklin Dockett
    John Ottavino
    • Clark Anderson
    Robert Stanton
    Robert Stanton
    • Bart Macklerooney
    Kelly Willis
    • Clarissa Flan
    Merrilee Dale
    • Polly Roberts
    Tom Atkins
    Tom Atkins
    • Dr. Caleb Menck
    David Strathairn
    David Strathairn
    • Mack Laflin
    James Spader
    James Spader
    • Chuck Marlin
    Pamela Reed
    Pamela Reed
    • Carol Cruise
    Helen Hunt
    Helen Hunt
    • Rose Pondell
    Eva Amurri
    Eva Amurri
    • Child in Hospital
    • Director
      • Tim Robbins
    • Writer
      • Tim Robbins
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews110

    7.016.1K
    1
    2
    3
    4
    5
    6
    7
    8
    9
    10

    Featured reviews

    8gmh-46567

    Ahead of it's time.

    This film predicts the current state of the USA. From a politician with a rebel/conservative persona who has people worshiping him and even mobilize for their cause. It seems that every named character is a recognizable face from the 90's. It's a really well made political satire like no other I've seen.
    ajdagreat

    Why is this movie so offensive?

    I didn't understand why Republicans were so offended by this movie. Bob Roberts's political affiliation had nothing to do with his dirty campaign tricks. Bob Roberts could just as easily have been a Democrat. This film is not mocking Republican dishonesty, but political dishonesty. Tim Robbins does a great job as an evil, hypocritical folk singer / politician, and there is a very good supporting cast. Not laugh-out-loud funny, but bitingly satirical and creepy.
    8Katz5

    Tim Robbins saw the future

    In 1992, the idea of a radical right winger who develops a nearly cult-like following initially based on writing songs that "bug the liberals" (as the folk band "The Goldwaters" did in the mid '60s...and yes, there was really a folk band called "The Goldwaters," and they put out an album titled "Songs that Bug the Liberals") becoming a political force seemed a bit far-fetched. Flash forward 30 years, and we can see how prophetic Robbins was.

    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.
    DougF-2

    A caricature, but relevant and frightening nonetheless

    A broad take on arch-conservatism in American politics that rings true on many levels, false on others. The songs and videos are the weak points--simple and shallow as they are, it's hard to buy that Bob Roberts could have had any commercial success at all. On the other hand, the portrayals of the newscasters and Roberts' followers are a beautiful mix of satire and truth.

    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. ;-)
    heckles

    Eerily prophetic

    I am surprised that no one in this comments index noticed how true-to-life this film turned out to be.

    "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.

    More like this

    Aber Bergen
    7.3
    Aber Bergen
    After the First 48
    7.4
    After the First 48
    L'Art de tomber amoureux
    6.0
    L'Art de tomber amoureux
    Anne Plus
    7.7
    Anne Plus
    Broadway, 39ème rue
    6.7
    Broadway, 39ème rue
    Too Far from Norm
    5.0
    Too Far from Norm
    45 Seconds of Laughter
    7.2
    45 Seconds of Laughter
    Embedded
    6.2
    Embedded
    The Player
    7.5
    The Player
    La musique du hasard
    7.0
    La musique du hasard
    Le jeu du pouvoir
    6.3
    Le jeu du pouvoir
    The Search for John Gissing
    6.5
    The Search for John Gissing

    Related interests

    Peter Sellers in Dr. Folamour ou : comment j'ai appris à ne plus m'en faire et à aimer la bombe (1964)
    Satire
    Will Ferrell in Présentateur vedette: La légende de Ron Burgundy (2004)
    Comedy
    Mahershala Ali and Alex R. Hibbert in Moonlight (2016)
    Drama

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      A 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.
    • Goofs
      In a scene where Bob gets off the bus in "Harrisburg" a police barrier clearly says "City of Philadelphia."
    • Quotes

      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.

    • Crazy credits
      The credits conclude with one screen-filling four-letter word: "VOTE".
    • Connections
      Featured in Siskel & Ebert & the Movies: Sister Act/Encino Man/Alien³/Far and Away (1992)
    • Soundtracks
      What 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.

    Top picks

    Sign in to rate and Watchlist for personalized recommendations
    Sign in

    FAQ20

    • How long is Bob Roberts?Powered by Alexa

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • September 16, 1992 (France)
    • Countries of origin
      • United Kingdom
      • United States
    • Languages
      • English
      • German
    • Also known as
      • El ciudadano Bob Roberts
    • Filming locations
      • Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
    • Production companies
      • Miramax
      • Live Entertainment
      • Polygram Filmed Entertainment
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $3,900,000 (estimated)
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $4,479,470
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $314,275
      • Sep 7, 1992
    • Gross worldwide
      • $4,479,470
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      • 1h 42m(102 min)
    • Sound mix
      • Dolby
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

    Contribute to this page

    Suggest an edit or add missing content
    • Learn more about contributing
    Edit page

    More to explore

    Recently viewed

    Please enable browser cookies to use this feature. Learn more.
    Get the IMDb App
    Sign in for more accessSign in for more access
    Follow IMDb on social
    Get the IMDb App
    For Android and iOS
    Get the IMDb App
    • Help
    • Site Index
    • IMDbPro
    • Box Office Mojo
    • License IMDb Data
    • Press Room
    • Advertising
    • Jobs
    • Conditions of Use
    • Privacy Policy
    • Your Ads Privacy Choices
    IMDb, an Amazon company

    © 1990-2025 by IMDb.com, Inc.