October 21, 1992 -- ``Bob Roberts'' came along just in time for the November 3 election. What a great satire on the American political system.

This may be the best movie on politics since ``The Candidate'' with Robert Redford 20 years ago. The film, written, directed by and starring Tim Robbins, is sharp and smart and nasty most of the way, but falls apart and the end when it strays beyond satire into fantasy.

The film's ending is unbelievable, but interesting. The story revolves around a Congressional candidate, played by Robbins, who is a right-wing country western singer rebel. In the words of one character in the film, Bob Roberts, `` ... has taken the role of rebel and turned it on its head,'' a diabolical bit of political savvy, or, as the same character says, a Machiavellian scheme to achieve power.

Not only is Robbins a politician and country western singer, but he is a big-league international businessman who is able to deftly switch between trading stock, singing conservative-rebel folk songs and giving snappy speeches. The songs, also co-written and sung by Robbins, are very funny takeoffs on Bob Dylan songs. The names of the albums are also funny variations of Bob Dylan's, like ``The Times Are Changing, Back.''

The film is a little overbearing in its attempt to bash conservatism, but it is also refreshing to see someone take this many chances and do so well most of the time. For the most part, the film is a devastating attack on the almost inherent hypocrisy in politics. The film is also more than a little scary since it skates pretty close to the truth.

Is there a real life Bob Roberts? On the contemporary scene, Rush Limbaugh comes to mind, but he's not running for office, yet. Politicians of the past like Huey Long and George Wallace might have also fit the bill.

The actors are very good. Gore Vidal has a nice role as the old-fashioned liberal incumbent candidate who is defeated by Robert's slick political machine.

Admittedly, this is an uneven film, but it has a lot more pluses than minuses. The film rates a B.

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