Bob Roberts is a cool political satire that is too clever for its own good.
I liked the movie, but more so for the dark humour and technical and visual proficiency than for the plot or message of the film. The movie's core argument is that the National Security Council is the actual seat of power in American democracy. This of course seemed insightful in the context of the first gulf war, but it feels deliciously quaint now. Almost every other piece of political satire in Bob Roberts suffers the same problem. It addresses real flaws of American conservatism, but the fact of the matter is that reality has become stranger than fiction. Not only that, but this argument is not even central in the film, or relevant. Instead, it is buried under what feels like the enumeration of all the afflictions of the modern American political right wing.
The criticism aimed at Reagan: the CIA funding war outside of appropriate democratic channels and the use of the attempt on his life to pass conservative agenda; is the only part of the movie that felt outrageous. Mainly because the movie presents it as something sinister. It paints it as a complex scheme by highly intelligent and nefarious characters. For the rest, the war on drugs, the celebrity cult, the empowerment of the evangelicals, the movie pretty much describes trends and movements that are ubiquitous. Obviously, it is unfair to judge an older movie on things it could not predict. My issue comes from the fact that Bob Roberts ties all these elements in a neat clean bow, but without understanding the underlying issues. Because, with hindsight we can see that yes for instance evangelical took control of the Republican party, but it was not done the way the movie suggests. The movie throws all these elements at the wall, but they do not really stick, because the overlaying message of the movie is the nineties slogan "watch out the Gulf War might be dangerous". To make a comparison: if the movie were about Hitler, it would address the Night of the Long knives and present it as the worst thing ever. Not saying that that was not terrible, but there were also other stuff, that (we know) were far worse.
That is mainly my problem with the film. It is its distorted reflection of reality.
Other than that, the movie is funny and smart. The acting is top notch and fun thing is the sheer amount of undiscovered star-power the film has. Also, I appreciated that it used the mockumentary format. It adds nothing to the film: it has no purpose really. However, it is nice. I took it as an additional trait of humour, the commitment to the format for no discernible reason.
At the end of the day, the movie is a product of its time. As such, it is not bad at all. However, where it achieves to describe certain trends in politics it also fails to give them underlying meaning and therefore a prescient quality.
I liked the movie, but more so for the dark humour and technical and visual proficiency than for the plot or message of the film. The movie's core argument is that the National Security Council is the actual seat of power in American democracy. This of course seemed insightful in the context of the first gulf war, but it feels deliciously quaint now. Almost every other piece of political satire in Bob Roberts suffers the same problem. It addresses real flaws of American conservatism, but the fact of the matter is that reality has become stranger than fiction. Not only that, but this argument is not even central in the film, or relevant. Instead, it is buried under what feels like the enumeration of all the afflictions of the modern American political right wing.
The criticism aimed at Reagan: the CIA funding war outside of appropriate democratic channels and the use of the attempt on his life to pass conservative agenda; is the only part of the movie that felt outrageous. Mainly because the movie presents it as something sinister. It paints it as a complex scheme by highly intelligent and nefarious characters. For the rest, the war on drugs, the celebrity cult, the empowerment of the evangelicals, the movie pretty much describes trends and movements that are ubiquitous. Obviously, it is unfair to judge an older movie on things it could not predict. My issue comes from the fact that Bob Roberts ties all these elements in a neat clean bow, but without understanding the underlying issues. Because, with hindsight we can see that yes for instance evangelical took control of the Republican party, but it was not done the way the movie suggests. The movie throws all these elements at the wall, but they do not really stick, because the overlaying message of the movie is the nineties slogan "watch out the Gulf War might be dangerous". To make a comparison: if the movie were about Hitler, it would address the Night of the Long knives and present it as the worst thing ever. Not saying that that was not terrible, but there were also other stuff, that (we know) were far worse.
That is mainly my problem with the film. It is its distorted reflection of reality.
Other than that, the movie is funny and smart. The acting is top notch and fun thing is the sheer amount of undiscovered star-power the film has. Also, I appreciated that it used the mockumentary format. It adds nothing to the film: it has no purpose really. However, it is nice. I took it as an additional trait of humour, the commitment to the format for no discernible reason.
At the end of the day, the movie is a product of its time. As such, it is not bad at all. However, where it achieves to describe certain trends in politics it also fails to give them underlying meaning and therefore a prescient quality.