YMMV / Bob Roberts

• Anvilicious: After the credits, the word 'VOTE' takes up the entire screen for a good 5-10 seconds.
• Do Not Do This Cool Thing: Defied. Tim Robbins knew that he and the film risked falling into this trope, and that the songs he recorded as Bob Roberts were genuinely good enough to be used as unironic propaganda for right-wing causes that went against his values, which is why he never recorded a soundtrack album despite knowing the demand was there. He believed that, if the songs existed on their own independent of the context of the film, they would inevitably be played completely straight.
  Robbins: I didn’t want to be riding in my car and hear some right-wing shock jock playing my music and hearing my voice.
• Fridge Horror: Near the end, the camera of the documentary catches Roberts tapping a foot while singing. This would expose the whole conspiracy, at least of the faked assassination attempt, right? Not so fast; the manipulability and sheer air-headedness of the media of the film might result in the news blackout of the revelation.
• Harsher in Hindsight: Robbins himself believes so, saying that the film predicted the rise of right-wing celebrity politicians like Donald Trump.
  Robbins: Bob Roberts came true.
• Misaimed Fandom: As noted above, this was why Robbins, fully aware of this trope, elected to not release a soundtrack album, to prevent anyone from using the songs out-of-context.
• Retroactive Recognition: A short-haired, clean-shaven Jack Black, in his film debut, plays an obsessed fan. Giancarlo Esposito, long before he became Gus Fring, plays an Intrepid Reporter.
• Unintentional Period Piece:
  • Set in the autumn of 1990, and the issues the film touches on (Saddam Hussein and the invasion of Kuwait, the Iran-Contra affair, the savings & loan meltdown, the crack epidemic, the general discussion of "traditional American values" versus "the legacy of The '60s") were all very current and specific to that timeframe, to the extent that it was a bit of a period piece already when it hit theaters a scant two years later.
  • The computers used by the Roberts campaign are not only very outdated, but very revealing about the campaign. A senate candidate using extensive computer technology in 1990 would've been one that was very well-funded. Besides his personal fortune, Bob clearly had a lot of wealthy interests in his corner.

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