Night Owl

Bob Roberts

Viewed: 19 June 2005
Directed by: Tim Robbins
Listed in: Movies, Netflix

A hilarious parody of an over the top neo-conservative folk singer, who stops at nothing to get elected. Even funnier are that the songs are good and only slightly implausible (I like the one that says drugs users should be hung from the highest tree). It seems Tim Robbins got a bunch of his actor friends together to make fun of politics. It even has a young Jack Black. There are some throwaway jabs at the conspiracy obsessed left, but the most sympathetic character is the incumbent Democratic Senator Paiste wonderfully played by Gore Vidal. Of course the biggest laughs are at the expense of Bob Roberts, who doesn’t have much of a character beyond smiling and day trading. The best satire is focus on specific elements of his campaign. When it shows the wide view, it gets too real.

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