Bob Roberts is a sanctimonious film filled with anger and self-righteousness. Now, I know I'm not supposed to bring my own political feelings to a film, but the truth is that that's exactly what Tim Robbins did when he made this film. And I have absolutely no problem with a filmmaker expressing his or her beliefs, political or otherwise, in a movie; in fact, more people should do it. I always try to look at the film on its own terms and there are many films I love but do not necessarily agree with. But the problem here is that Bob Roberts does not set out to convince anyone of anything or express any feelings other than hatred. It is intended to be a satire, but there is nothing real here that is being made fun of. Give me South Park any day.
The movie is about a man named Bob Roberts (Robbins), a Republican running for senate in Pennsylvania. To help with his campaign he has become a popular folk singer (which admittedly is kind of funny) and he sings not-so-subtly about fascist ideals and capitalist greed. Using this tactic, he gains a huge amount of supporters across the nation. He is stupid and evil and, we come to find out, he and his campaign workers are involved in drug trafficking.
This film was obviously made by liberals for liberals. I was not intended to see it, or, if I was, Robbins has made a huge mistake in thinking that anything here could seriously "open the eyes" of anyone who believes differently than he does. But I really don't think that's the case. More likely it was made so that people who do share his exact opinion could share in a few chuckles and a grave frown at the expense of people who do not share his views, for these people are portrayed as idiots in Bob Roberts.
One huge problem is that there is not a character in the film the audience could possibly care about. Bob Roberts is a bastard beyond any conception of humanity, so how are we to recognize any humanity in the film? The answer is that there is none. Roberts is not a character, he is simply a tool for the filmmakers to "expose" the evils of conservatism. And we are shown all of the footage that is shown to his voters. We are never once fooled by his masquerade as a good American candidate, so why should we believe so many voters are fooled? Because these voters are average Americans and Robbins (like most liberals) has a great contempt for average Americans? I guess that's a pretty serious accusation. I don't know.
A good film asks a question and looks for an answer. Bob Roberts begins with an answer in mind and intends to educate or simply ridicule and accuse.
I don't want you to think this movie is an entire waste of time, however. It is pretty effectively filmed as a mockumentary about the election, and there are some genuinely funny moments and terrific performances as well. It's just that all this is in the service of something I don't consider to be all that worthwhile.
I can't help but contrast this with some of the more thoughtful political films I have seen, such as Milk, W. and The Candidate. These are movies with real, human characters. They may be trying to make a political point (some of which I may not agree with), but they respect their audiences enough to allow them to think through the themes. This is not the case with Bob Roberts.
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