Your eighth grade social studies teacher probably asked where your parents were when John F. Kennedy was killed. But if JFK’s assassination was a loss of innocence, his brother Bobby’s was a loss of hope for a nation numbed by shootings, social upheaval and war.

Emilio Estevez’s 22-member Altman-esque ensemble — yep, Emilio Estevez’s Altman-esque ensemble — Bobby spotlights the influence of Robert F. Kennedy at the height of his political career, right before his assassination in 1968. Unfortunately, in trying to capture the idealism that Bobby inspired, Estevez comes off as a bit preachy in his passion project, which he writes, directs and takes a small supporting role in. It’s a mostly successful movie, but there are weaknesses.

Estevez’s dialogue is particularly clunky at points. “Arthur wasn’t always a king,” Laurence Fishburne tells a fellow kitchen employee. “He was once a young man, like you.” Now reread that more melodramatically.

The actors sell it, but Bobby just keeps toeing the line between truly moving and slightly gaggy. Estevez assembles a ridiculously large and absolutely amazing cast. This movie is the kind that makes it easier to name people not in it. Shia LaBeouf of Even Stevens fame is particularly wonderful as a young campaign volunteer more interested in getting high with Ashton Kutcher than getting out the vote. Helen Hunt also resounds as a self-doubting socialite, and Anthony Hopkins is great as a retired doorman.

One character missing from the drama is the senator himself. Estevez makes the right choice by not actually showing us Bobby, but showing us what he meant to every segment of society, from a manicurist to a Czech reporter. Bobby is an idea, not a character, but his death is truly horrifying. Without knowing RFK as a person, we mourn him nonetheless, just as millions of Americans did in 1968.

Despite its frequent heavy-handedness, Bobby is incredibly effective. For every criticism of the film, nothing disparaging can be said about its riveting final 15 minutes. Estevez employs a chaotic blending of real footage with the movie’s portrayal of the assassination.

Bobby is clearly Estevez’s attempt at a color version of Good Night and Good Luck. While Bobby is not quite as solid, it’s funny, warm and stirring in its own right.