Tetrady not as good as all the hype

Dirtylogy It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

Sameer Callahan It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

Myron Clemons A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

Diane Ruth This is indeed the true triumph of Emilio Estevez as a director. At the conclusion of this movie, when the words "Written and Directed by Emilio Estevez", you will get chills. This is motion picture greatness. In bringing his vision to the screen he has given the world the film Bobby, a motion picture for the ages. Working from his own brilliant screenplay and an all star cast, each member of which gives the finest performance of their respective careers, he has proved himself a major cinematic artist. This is one of the most powerful and deeply moving movies ever projected upon a theater screen. The soundtrack is breathtaking and perfect. The intertwining stories of the lives surrounding the assassination reflects profoundly how all our lives were touched by Kennedy's presence as well as his tragic senseless demise at the hands of a deranged lone gunman. Sensitively observed, beautifully realized, and magnificently produced, Bobby is indeed one of the most important pieces of cinema history ever filmed. No one who sees Bobby will remain unchanged by what they have experienced.

callanvass A story of how President Kennedy was shot in the early hours of the morning and how it affected the lives of everyone around him. I don't remember much about this movie, but it did have some powerful moments. Emilio Estevez hung up his acting boots to sit in the Director's chair. He's a pretty good Director in all honesty. If you want a better example, watch The Way Way Back. It has an all-star cast that will knock the socks off of the most critical. I do remember that the cast kept me going, but it was a little bit too slow-paced for my liking. Political enthusiasts will likely find things to enjoy about this movie. 6/10

moonspinner55 Writer-director-co-star Emilio Estevez takes a tragic, emotional event in American history--the June 5th, 1968 assassination of Senator Robert Kennedy by Sirhan Sirhan--and attempts to build a kaleidoscope of stories around it, giving personalities to the faces in the crowd that fateful night at Los Angeles' Ambassador Hotel. Curiously, Estevez chose not to focus on Kennedy (who is represented by newsreel footage), nor on Sirhan Sirhan, but on fictional (or fictionalized) characters such as a young couple marrying to keep the husband out of Vietnam; two young campaign workers who drop acid and spend the entire day goofing off; a Hispanic busboy at the hotel, fighting for equality and hoping to get the night off to see the Dodgers play; a beautician whose husband is cheating on her; and so on. With such a horrible tragedy looming over the third act of the picture, it's rather difficult to care about what color shoes Helen Hunt wears, or whether Lindsay Lohan's parents will turn up at her ceremony. Estevez has his heart in the right place (and his visual eye is impressive), but the screenplay is shallow and turgid, laughably underlined with a kind of political correctness which is supposed to make the picture seem relevant but is instead anachronistic. Star-studded cast generally fails to make an impression, though again this is the fault of the writing. ** from ****

ccbc People who complain about the ensemble cast and disparate story lines are missing the point. This is a movie about ordinary people caught up in the great drama of history. All the people have their own lives to live (as is pointed up in a Kennedy speech clip during the credits) but all are affected by the event that is to take place. War movies frequently have this concept. This is a peace movie about people whose lives will be changed by an outside event. (Disclaimer: I remember in June 1968 my wife, an early riser, sitting on the edge of the bed saying, "Robert Kennedy was shot." I knew right away what that meant: Nixon would be president, four more years of war... Yes, I was one of those ordinary people who was affected by this historic event.)