Bob Roberts

You don't see a lot of political satire at the movies. You certainly don't see many, if any as cogent as Bob Roberts. It's ever so slightly terrifying just how many reflections of real life events are to be found within.

I would have been nine at the time of release and so know little of American politics in the era, but I have to wonder if the kind of self serving media savvy demagogue he represents was a political extreme at the time. Whether he was intended as an absurd, monstrous figure, an exaggerated parody rather than the worryingly accurate portrayal of numerous elements of the political field he seems to me today. Maybe it's naive (read: ignorant) of me to assume such image fixated bastards are a relatively new phenomenon.

Whatever the case, the film more than merely holds up two decades later. It's relevant, funny, biting and really rather chilling. A wonderful mockumentary detailing the rise and rise of the Wall Street giant turned right wing folk singer (singing horrifying Dylan parodies such as "Times are Changin' Back") turned Senatorial candidate, Bob Roberts.

Masterfully constructed, an almost immaculate example of faking the documentary method, it covers the depths to which he and his team will sink. Their vile tactics and ideals, if indeed they hold the ideals they persistently exude; The film allows itself to be read either way. It has a constant eye on the control they attempt to wield over the perception of their figurehead, and allows, just occasionally for that mask to slip.

It derails slightly towards the finish, as it loses sight of the characters and focuses on the larger political picture. Perhaps a necessary step to cover the sheer scale of the blight Robbins character heralds, but still a shame to find a weak spot in an otherwise flawless film.