Bob Roberts

Last week TV2 showed "The Candidate"; this week Bob Roberts is being shown as a curtain-raiser to the American presidential election. "The Candidate" was probably, unfortunately, close to reality, whereas Bob Roberts is pure satire. After Bob Roberts nobody can be in any doubt about where Tim Robbins and his wife Susan Sarandon stand politically - a good way out on the American left.

Bob Roberts is an ultra-conservative Senate candidate who seduces the voters with his charisma, his gift of the gab and the folk songs he composes himself and plays on the guitar. His messages and their implications are forgotten amid all the advertising and media spin. Alan Rickman plays Lucas Hart, a prominent figure in Roberts' campaign, but Hart has dirty hands, which the journalist Bugs Raplin tries to prove. Roberts sets in motion a huge stunt. which neutralises Raplin and promotes himself. Lust for power stops at nothing.

Bob Roberts demands your full attention, for the pace is high and the film poses as a documentary, so the viewer has to help piece the narrative together. A film with bite. The documentary style can, however, be a little exhausting in the long run.