Bob Roberts (1992)
"Bob? Ain't that a bitch!" - Prince
Tim
Robbins
was
condemning
the
Vast
Right
Wing
Conspiracy
before
Hillary
made
it
cool.
He
wrote,
directed
and
starred
as
the
titular
Bob
Roberts
in
1992.
Bob
Roberts
was
a
smiling,
good
looking
and
charismatic
fount
of
pure,
twisted
conservative
Republican
evil.
Politics aside, Robbins made a really outstanding and clever movie with a strong vision, and no small number of laughs. He took every bad or bad sounding thing from the original Reagan-Bush years, and rolled it into one almost believable conspiracy arch. You see, the damned conservatives were looting S&Ls to invest in drug running from Central America to raise money to support the Contras- and enrich themselves, naturally. These couple of sentences may not sound that promising for a movie comedy, but the skill of the writing puts it all across.
Particularly,
he
created
an
exceptionally
clever
and
comedy
worthy
frame
for
the
whole
thing.
Bob
Roberts
is
a
pop
star,
writing
folk
style
songs
to
express
his
fanatical
and
callous
right
wing
views-
which
form
the
basis
for
a
candidacy
for
the
US
Senate.
This
gives
him
endless
opportunities
to
invert
Dylan,
the
classic
model
for
this
stuff,
for
example
his
album
"The
Times
Are
Changin'
Back."
He
also
has
a
video
parodying
the
famous
cards-in-the-alley
video,
in
which
Bob
Roberts
now
advocates
making
millions
"by
any
means
necessary."
One big aspect that makes the whole thing work is the quality of the songs that Tim and his brother David Robbins wrote. Just as songs, they are more interesting than anything Dylan himself has done in 20 years. They're pretty catchy, have fairly simple but effective and wide ranging arrangements, and the stench of sulfur from hell emanating from every single one. For example, he really embodies the war on drugs in "Drugs Stink" in which he encourages the literal lynching of drugs users and sellers. "Be a clean living man with a rope in your hand." Not only that, it's a catchy little tune.
Putting it in another context, I'd rate the songs from Bob Roberts notably superior to the actually good songs from the classic Spinal Tap. Both movies feature songs specially written as parodic content in character. Tap had some grooves, but the brothers Robbins wrote much more intricately clever songs. This not surprising in that Tap songs were Zen songs written in the voices of stupid people. Roberts is a wicked smart dude, much more interesting. The tunes are more developed, the arrangements not purposely cheesy. The words of "Complain" are more sophisticated than those of, say, "Sex Farm". Not only are all the songs strong, but individually distinctive. Each one is a unique stylistic creation, not quite like any other.
Another thing that makes the flick great is just how far Robbins is willing to go, which is pretty far the hell out there. Specifically, the guy is conniving enough to stage an assassination attack on himself. Damn, but that's a HARDCORE Republican bastard.
The
climax
of
the
plotline
kicks
in
on
a
guest
musician
appearance
on
the
Cutting
Edge
Live
television
show-
a
doppleganger
for
Saturday
Night
Live.
As
a
writer,
Robbins
took
the
time
to
make
a
nicely
unsympathetic
swipe
at
SNL
as
self-deluded
corporate
sell
outs,
nothing
but
glorified
faux-progressive
PR
flacks
for
the
military-industrial
complex.
He
explained
this
directly
in
a
monologue
being
rehearsed
by
the
guest
host.
Then
he
demonstrated
it
with
the
inanity
of
the
cast
and
material
of
the
show.
For
this
little
subplot,
I've
never
seen
a
harsher
or
better
drawn
criticism
of
this
iconic
show.
This
segment
alone
about
justifies
the
effort
of
watching
the
movie.
Note how he plays the puds at the show. As a matter of artistic integrity and in the spirit of live television, he insists on performing a brand new song live on the air, a patriotic statement that he had written just that very afternoon. Then he reached over to play the reel-to-reel tape of the pre-recorded orchestral arrangements for what turns out to be essentially a campaign song. The perfect cynicism of this gesture shows precision and careful thought in the writing.
Look, if you have any taste at all for political movies, then you really HAVE to see this, to own a DVD. If Dr Strangelove, Wag the Dog and The Manchurian Candidate rate high on your list of groovy movies, this one is absolutely for you, even if you don't necessarily buy a lot of the left wing politics.
A Modest Proposal to Monkey with Tim Robbins' Mind
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