Bob Roberts
Bob Roberts is a 1992 American satirical mockumentary film written, directed by, and starring Tim Robbins. It depicts the rise of Robert "Bob" Roberts Jr., a right-wing politician who is a candidate for an upcoming United States Senate election. Roberts is well financed, due mainly to past business dealings, and is well known for his folk music, which presents conservative ideas with gusto.
Plot
Bob Roberts takes place in Pennsylvania in 1990. It depicts a fictitious senatorial race between a conservative Republican folk singer, Bob Roberts, and the incumbent Democrat, Brickley Paiste. The film is shot through the perspective of Terry Manchester, a British documentary filmmaker who is following the Roberts campaign. Through Manchester's lens we see Roberts travel across the state and sing about drug users, lazy people and the triumph of traditional family values and laissez-faire capitalism over the rebelliousness and social justice causes of the 1960s. Even though the Roberts campaign team officially avoids manifestations of open bigotry, their songs, speech and mannerisms are rife with snobbish dog whistles and racist and sexist innuendos, and Manchester's footage reveals casual use of homophobic slurs.
Awards
Cast
- Adam Simon
- Alan Rickman
- Allan F. Nicholls
- Anita Gillette
- Bob Balaban
- David Strathairn
- Eva Amurri
- Fisher Stevens
- Fred Ward
- Giancarlo Esposito
- Gore Vidal
- Harry Lennix
- Helen Hunt
- Jack Black
- James Spader
- Jeremy Piven
- John Cusack
- Kathleen Chalfant
- Kelly Willis
- Lynne Thigpen
- Matthew Faber
- Ned Bellamy
- Pamela Reed
- Paul Quinn
- Peter Gallagher
- Ray Wise
- Rebecca Jenkins
- Robert Stanton
- Shira Piven
- Steve Pink
- Susan Sarandon
- Tim Robbins
- Tom Atkins