Okay, make no mistake: Bob Roberts is definitely not the most subtle film ever made. It's not so much a veiled attack on the American right-wing as it is an all singing, all dancing celluloid spit in the Republican party's face. It's also as paranoid as a junkie, and almost proudly one sided, which might be why it has slipped into relative obscurity - it's a film that could be very easily dismissed as a piece of left-wing propaganda, directed by and starring Tim Robbins, an outspokenly leftist actor.But, Bob Roberts is a film that deserves a lot more attention than it receives, largely because unlike a lot of political comedies, it's actually funny. Bob Roberts is a mockumentary about a right wing politician/folk singer named (unsurprisingly) Bob Roberts. Roberts is a kind of anti Bob Dylan, whose modus operandi is to emulate the spirit of the folk singing radicals and then deliberately turn their message on its head - he sings songs about enforcing the death penalty on drug dealers, and the positives of investing in the stock market. Dylan provides such an obvious touchstone for the character that it's arguable the whole film is as much a spoof of the Dylan documentary Don't Look Back as it is a political satire.  The songs are a good example of what makes this film work. Sure, they're unashamedly political and barbed - they're the kind of spoofs that you'll now find dime a dozen on youtube - but they are so painfully earnest and straightfaced that they're kind of hypnotic. In Bob Roberts, Robbins has created a character who absolutely believes the terrible and terrifying things he sings about, and he plays the part with a wide eyed enthusiasm that makes you laugh, but in that oh so unsettling "I'm genuinely disturbed by this" kind of way.  The jokes are totally underplayed, save for an out of place 'before they were famous' Jack Black cameo appearance. He's the only actor who inhabits his role as if it's meant to be funny, all but giving the audience a big fourth wall breaking wink. Everyone else, however, lets the humour come naturally from the insanity of what they're saying: they don't gurn to the camera. From Alan Rickman's performance as the shadowy Big Business agent to Gore Vidal as Bob Roberts' running mate, the rest of the cast play the thing totally straight-faced.Sure, the movie's pretty preachy, but it never becomes boring: at a lean 102 minutes, it's a freight train of a film, spitting out characters, situations, and genuinely thrilling plot twists.Best of all is the film's ending, which is as cutting as the punchline to a sick joke. There's no messing around to this one. The conclusion socks you in the guts then carries on its way, whistling Bob Roberts' "Drugs Stink" as it goes.

"Self determination. The choice to be... what you want to be. And I wanted to be... rich!"This is the story of a superstar singer turned politician. The movie has good directing, a good script, excellent acting, countless cameos and funny, witty and entertaining music.Tim Robbins is the mastermind behind this movie. He is directing, acting, writing, singing, song writing - in one word, he does everything. And he does everything well. His directing is brilliant and the subject allows him to try his hand at directing movies, video clips, concerts and political rallies, all in one. And the result is incredible. There is a lot of mobility to the movie, and he uses the shaky cam a lot, but without the shaky part, which is remarkable. Also there is a clear distinction between mobile and static scenes, and the two don't mix, they don't bleed into each other, and there is no attempt to film one mobile scene with a fixed camera or the other way around.The script starts lighthearted, funny and highly entertaining and it turns darker and darker as time goes by. The narration and the narrator are brilliant, the mix of singing and politics is very well done, managing a fine balance. There are heavier touches later in the movie, as the writer drives his point home, but they are to be expected. There is also subtlety and innuendo.The actors are very good. Tim Robbins is a natural, both as an actor and as a singer, and his portrayal of a tireless, relentless, flawless political machine is brilliant. Gore Vidal is excellent, and Alan Rickman and Ray Wise are perfect for their roles.There are a lot of cameos by A-list and B-list Hollywood actors, and the movie turns at times into a veritable "Spot the celebrity" kind of game, which ads to the entertaining value. "James Spader, hello Sir, right this way. Here are your lines, this way please. Susan Sarandon, Hellen Hunt, Pamela Reed, Fred Ward, Jon Cusack, welcome, welcome. Here are your parts, please go right this way. Jack Black, Jack Black... I'm sorry Sir, I don't know anybody by that name, but please, please do come in. We'll see what we can do."The music is the glue that brings this movie together. It is militant, the lyrics are catchy and brutally honest, even if they are meant as a satire, not to be played out of context. The music video clips are hilarious and the concerts are very engaging and even moving, at times. The end credits feature a Bob Dylan like moment, the inspiration for the music and for the movie as a whole, bringing the powerful performance to a full circle.Bob Roberts. Brilliant movie, witty, entertaining and downright scary, at times. 10/10.

We gave this film an excruciating 42 minutes. Even though we're liberal Democrats, Tim Robbins just wasn't convincing as a conservative.Richard Dreyfuss, also a liberal in real life, was able to play a delightfully sleazy conservative politician in "Dave", but Robbins obviously found it hard to play a character so different from his own personal values. It was clear that he himself didn't like the character he was playing - he seemed to be holding so much back. Even worse, the pace was so slow that after 42 minutes we didn't seem to know any more about the plot than we did after the first five!Maybe the film gets more interesting, but those 42 minutes felt like 42 hours. Rent "Dave" instead.

It's interesting that Tim Robbins picked Pennsylvania of all places for his satirical film Bob Roberts. Written, directed, and starring Tim Robbins, it's the story of a rightwing folksinger entertainer who rises to be United States Senator from that state with a big hint of further ambition. For in 1994 one Rick Santorum was elected in that Republican year in that state against a comfortable liberal named Harris Wofford in much the same manner as Robbins's Bob Roberts defeats Senator Brickley Paiste.Santorum was Bob Roberts without the singing. Once again life does imitate art.For satire to be successful it must be both humorous and have the touch of chiffon. This is the reason that Dr. Strangelove as a film succeeds so brilliantly and why Bob Roberts fails. Robbins's film has all the subtlety of a sledgehammer. He did satirize one thing in Bob Roberts quite brilliantly, but without even knowing it I'm sure. Gore Vidal's character of Senator Brickley Paiste is nothing short of brilliant for the wrong reasons. He plays the part of a comfortable old, fashionably liberal Senator who has lost contact with the grassroots brilliantly. And I do so love that Dickensian name.Once upon a time the Democratic was confident and assured in its way of being the majority party with its alliance with big labor and big city political machines to turn out the vote. It's dirty little secret was that it relied on generations old resentments from the children and grandchildren of immigrant arrivals who were treated really bad by the Republican party and its WASP base. Where I grew up in Brooklyn, people were taught to vote the Column on the voting machine with the star which is the Democratic symbol in New York State. Just go down the row even if Caligula's horse is there.A man like Brickley Paiste came on the scene in 1960 as he says in his whiny valedictory with John F. Kennedy and that was around the height of the Democrat's confident majority. Times and issues do change and I won't do a history of what happened in those thirty years. One thing was that workers went from over 50% unionized to about half of that.Another was the rise of Political Action Committees, Republicans did it first and still do it best. A third was sadly the religious right with no real effort to counter it from the other end of the spectrum. All this and more combined to make the Democratic majority ripe for the taking in 1994 in which the Santorum-Wofford race was a small part.But if life does imitate art we are pleased with the fact in 2006 Rick Santorum became an ex-Senator probably more to do with the fact he was just too conservative ultimately for a place like Pennsylvania than anything else. So the real life Bob Roberts does go down, Brickley Paiste is vindicated.Even in the days of television and the internet you still can't fool all the people all the time.