That rowdy film critics' gang will have to add more firepower and improve their aim if they're going to take "Bobby" down in the derby, especially with Harvey Weinstein in the saddle. It's obvious that they've been gunning for it, but not all journos are joining their posse. Some key reviews are in. They're mixed, but the most important ones so far (Variety, Hollywood Reporter) are good.

All around Toronto, at the various parties this week, the orneriest journos — you know, the art-house-lovin' breed — have been cleaning their pistols with a lusty glee in their eye, snarling to the rest of us before they saw "Bobby," "I know I'm going to hate it!" For months they've had it in their sights because it's commonly dismissed by them as — and I admit that this is pretty funny — "Love Boat" sailing through serious history waters with Ashton Kutcher and Lindsay Lohan aboard. Justifiably, they wonder: are we being punk'd?

While that indictment is true plus more (viewers might expect the many celeb-packed subplots to give us more insight into the guy whose name's in the film title), it deliberately strikes a different course. Destination: the viewer's I-am-there perspective, so that we feel like we — bus boys, beauticians, doormen, cooks, mid-level managers, drunk lounge singers, even drunk journalists, whoever we are — are in that hotel kitchen when Sirhan Sirhan's pistol goes off. Director/writer Emilio Estevez lets vintage TV clips of Bobby Kennedy give us the political messages about poverty, pollution and Vietnam. Sure, it's the "Love Boat" formula, but it's one also tapped in past best picture winner "Grand Hotel." A multi-storied, celeb-packed ensemble won the top Oscar just last year: "Crash." And let us not forget "Around the World in 80 Days" or the biggest Love Boat of them all: "Titanic."

Hollywood Reporter calls it "a well-crafted piece." Variety notes, "Estevez successfully pulls together a complexly designed narrative intertwining newsreel footage of RFK with mini-stories about 22 fictional characters." Oscarwatcher Kris Tapley of InContention.com calls "Bobby" a "definite threat in this year's Oscar race — a film that could literally go all the way."

The rest of the Internet gurus tend to be comprised of that gunslinger gang who like their movies gritty and preferably shot in Pakistan with Swedish subtitles. None of them have been caught watching "Love Boat" reruns recently on TV Land. They're all sharp film critics whose opinions we value, even when we disagree, and even when they're throwing their magnificent tantrums (yes, you, David Poland), so they matter. But how good are they really as award experts? (Warning, David: keep hurling that "Geisha" snowball at me — and quoting it incorrectly — and I've got a fistful of "Phantom of the Opera" for ya).

Speaking of David, his review of "Bobby" suggests that he's got secret talents Paris Hilton may pay handsomely for the next time she makes a MTV video. To the tune of Billy Joel's "We Didn't Start the Fire," he pens these lyrics: "Big things, Expect, But the movie is a wreck." It's sure nice hearing that fabulous curmudgeon finally break into chirpy song, isn't it? Tune in more: CLICK HERE.

Jeffrey Wells of Hollywood-Elsewhere.com throws a fun fit now and then, too (I've never heard him sing) and tends to know his Oscars, but, over all when judging movies, he prefers gourmet fare to the Love Boat buffet. Soon after exiting a screening of "Bobby," he blogged: "The local Toronto word on Emilio Estevez's 'Bobby' has been pretty bad for the last two or three days, and so I went into this morning's screening pumped and ready to scoff. But the old reverse-negative effect kicked in and I wound up not hating it too much."

Here are some more media musings on "Bobby," some new, some quoted more extensively than the abbreviated snippets above:

Hollywood Reporter: "A well-crafted piece with a large ensemble cast featuring some big names, the film's success will depend on whether audiences respond to its rose-tinted view of Los Angeles in the late 1960s and its clear belief that RFK was a saint."

Variety: "Emilio Estevez's 'Bobby' is a passionate outcry for peace and justice in America that becomes deeply involving by the final climactic scene, overlaid with one of RFK's most stirring speeches. A warm reception at Venice, followed by a Gala bow in Toronto are well-timed to put the picture in the spotlight during the serious-minded fall (and election) season, taking the same route George Clooney's 'Good Night, and Good Luck' took to galvanize a following . . . . Stepping up as writer and director in a way he never has before, Estevez successfully pulls together a complexly designed narrative intertwining newsreel footage of RFK with mini-stories about 22 fictional characters."

El Mundo: "Well structured (with) intelligent direction and a critical political message."

InContention.com: "Emilio Estevez's third feature filmmaking endeavor is everything his prior work was not. It is both insightful and meaningful. It exudes passion and commands relevance . . . . I expect and hope to be talking about 'Bobby' for many months to come, as it is a definite threat in this year's Oscar race — a film that could literally go all the way. Read more — CLICK HERE.

Hollywood-Elsewhere: "Much of 'Bobby' is treacly and mediocre and some of it might make you shudder, but it's not altogether grotesque. It's reasonably well-shot and cut, it has a few smallish moments that work, and there are some saving grace moments near the very end." Read more — CLICK HERE.

DarkHorizons.com: "'Bobby' is like an over-stuffed Xmas stocking with too much going on, for too little reward. Hampered by an over abundance of characters, some more interesting than others, the movie is hit and miss. However, Estevez does show talent as a director, with some key sequences quite impressive, including a visually memorable LSD moment which is rather stunning." Read more — CLICK HERE.

Emanuellevy.com: "'Bobby' evidences a huge gap between Estevez's level of aspiration and his level of accomplishment. While his heart may be in the right place, lack of sharp screenplay (which tends to drag and is often trivial) and lack of visual skills (the film looks pedestrian) undercut what could have been a better picture. Even so, considering his ambition and relatively lack of directorial experience, Estevez should be at least commended for trying, even if he ultimately acquits himself better as director than as writer." Read more — CLICK HERE.

Photo: All aboard Harvey's and Emilio's Celeb Love Boat! Clockwise from top: Lindsay Lohan, Elijah Wood and Sharon Stone, Emilio Estevez and Demi Moore, Anthony Hopkins, Martin Sheen and Helen Hunt, William H. Macy and Sharon Stone, and Laurence Fishburne and Freddy Rodriguez.
(Weinstein Co.)