'Bobby' makes only $4.8M in first week

[Clinton Crusader]

1. Happy Feet - $37.0M
2. Casino Royale - $30.7M
3. Deja Vu - $20.5M
4. Deck the Halls - $12.0M
5. Borat - $10.3M
6. The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause - $9.9M
7. Flushed Away - $5.7M
8. Stranger Than Fiction - $5.7M
9. Bobby - $4.8M
10. The Fountain - $3.7M

How utterly disappointing. I haven't seen it because it's only playing 65 miles from here.

[The Count]

1. So? It's a crappy movie. Your point is?

[Clinton Crusader]

4. a crappy movie?? I don't think I said that.

I said how disappointing it is that not many are going to see it. I'd LOVE to see it, but the distance is a probelm. I didn't say anything about it being 'crappy'.

[The Count]

8. Reviewers said it. Ticket prices are high. Why spend money on poor movies?

Emilio Estevez's? Please!
57% rotten
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/bobby/

[MADem]

15. Yep, I've read and heard that while it doesn't quite stink up the room, it's a "wait for cable" film

[hamletsophelia]

27. a better talent could have made a far better movie about the same subject matter

[RaleighNCDUer]

6. I was very impressed with it.

Yes, Bobby is a peripheral figure in the movie with his name, but it did catch the mood of the time, and the frustration and anger and hope of the time.

I don't know that I'd drive 65 miles to see it, but it did get me out of the house for a 20 mile round trip. There's not much out there (except Happy Feet) that could do that.

[dflprincess]

23. I was also impressed

I saw it last Friday night and the theater was nearly full - the audience was probably 90% people who could remember RFK. The only young ones appeared to be ones like my niece who accompanied an aging Boomer.

I have considered dragging some of my other nieces and nephew to it. They need to see it.

[EstimatedProphet]

29. We just saw it

We liked it very much. I think what the problem some people had with it was that it really wasn't about Bobby Kennedy, but once you got past that, it was very touching.

[AngryOldDem]

7. I kinda/sorta want to see it, but not really....

...can't make up my mind. Is it like a bunch of little soap operas played out in the Ambassador Hotel before Bobby gets shot? If so, I think I'll go see Borat again.

[marmar]

2. But it's still is somewhat limited release, right?

And the reviews have been very mixed.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

3. I don't think anyone would expect it to do much better than this, being a drama,

with this kind of big escapist movie competition.

Also, I haven't heard how good it actually is, subject matter nonwithstanding.

[Nightjock]

5. Mostly bad reviews

and Lindsey Lohan scared me off. I was going to rent the dvd.

Here's the reviews from across the country...

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/bobby/

[rox63]

9. I saw it last weekend

I thought it was ok. Not fantastic, but I'm glad I saw it.

[AlCzervik]

10. well happy feet and Casino are on twice the number of screens.

[RaleighNCDUer]

11. Good point.

Where's the breakdown on income per screen?

I've been looking, but can't seem to find it this week.

[AlCzervik]

12. here ya go

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/daily/chart/

[RaleighNCDUer]

18. Thanks. Great resource. nt

[trotsky]

13. Tough to pull big audiences.

Face it, how many Americans don't even know who he was?

And of those who do, how many want to be reminded, in vivid color on the big screen, of just what they and this country lost?

[RaleighNCDUer]

19. There's a kid that works with me who told me, sheepishly, after

that he kept waiting for the scene with the convertible. And this is a bright kid. It's just ancient history to anyone born after, say 1980.

For him it made the shooting much more impactful - he wasn't expecting it to be in the kitchen, he didn't recognize Sirhan, so it came as a surprise.

He did, btw, love the movie.

[sinkingfeeling]

14. I saw it Sunday and thought it was great, although I cried through most of it.

I was going to write something about the emotion of viewing it in my journal, but haven't so far.

I was 19 when Bobby was killed. This movie brought it all back to me...everything in it was real. I clearly remember those speeches...I was 6 weeks away from my wedding...I remember Walter Cronkite announcing California had gone to Kennedy.

Hearing Sen. Bobby Kennedy's words again made me think about what could have been. If he had been elected President, there would have been no Nixon, no Ronnie, no Bush. We would have gotten out of Nam with a much lesser loss of life and limb. He was tough on the mob and corporations. We would have lived in a different America, one without the divisions.

Maybe, those of you born after 1965 would find the movie 'crappy', but I would give it a couple of Oscars if I could.

[thingfisher]

16. Maybe, those of you born after 1965 would find the movie 'crappy'

I have not seen the movie either, but it seems like our heroes (the boomers) have become irrelevant to the next generations. Many regard the posts about JFK etc. as obsessive and morbid. What they don't realize is the fact that those crimes of the past have had a profound affect on their lives and that the criminals who perpetrated the crimes bear a lot of responsibility for the state of the union and the world.

Movies are given to much importance in our culture. They often take the place of real history and tend to mold public perceptions in unhealthy ways a lot of the time. What is so damn funny about Borat?

[H2O Man]

17. I paid for tickets

for three of my kids. One is 22, one 19, and one 18. They all said the movie was average, at best. But they were all fascinated with RFK, and said they would love to read and watch more about him.

I think that you may be right that those of us from the older generation(s) would like the movie more, but not because of Robert per say. The movie is about how he impacted others in his life and his death. That belongs to us in a way that it simply can never belong to those born after '65.

[aikoaiko]

22. Bobby who?

I think you're right. I was born in '68 and while I grew up revering john and supporting ted, I never got a sense of what bobby did except die tragically.

[catmandu57]

20. If RFK turned into a metal 60 foot tall borg

armed with rockets, grenades, machine guns, and single handedly beat the NVA kicked Ho in the nads, then the movie would be the top box office in the country.
As it is it's history, I watched the documentary on American Experience, that was really good.

[hamletsophelia]

28. that's just a bizzare thought...rfk turning into etc

[hamletsophelia]

21. does that mean that it's officially a bomb??/

[WildEyedLiberal]

24. I was born in the 80s and I liked it

:shrug:

I'm a political dork, though, so not representative of my age demographic.

[Cetacea]

25. The Kennedy family endorsed it

and felt that the film would teach a new generation about RFK and his message.
I don't trust MSM critics.

[Gloria]

26. I saw it with a friend and we found it very moving...I had read a

review which said all the story lines were hard to follow. Utter rubbish, you'd have to be a moron not to be able to follow the characters.

I wish there had been more of Bobby. However, the main thrust of his stances came through loud and clear. He was prescient. I came away sad...that he was killed, that 40 years of my life had gone and we aren't much further ahead than we were in 1968 in so many ways....