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The Last Glimmer

Emilio Estevez on the set of "Bobby" with his father, Martin Sheen, one of many A-list stars who worked on the movie for minimal pay. (Sam Emerson/The Weinstein Company)

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Many Hollywood directors perhaps would steer clear of comparing their work to the classic disaster films of the 1970s. But Estevez embraces it, and it is sort of poignant.

The producer behind those disaster movies was Irwin Allen, "who put Roddy McDowall and Ernest Borgnine and Gene Hackman and Shelley Winters and all the stars of the day under one roof.

"What Irwin Allen did so beautifully that studios don't do now is develop characters so that you care about them.

"When Stella Stevens dies? She's married to Ernest Borgnine, who gives that line, 'You took away the only thing I ever loved. My Linda.' You remember that?"

My Linda. Okay.

"And you wept, man."

And you cared.

"But my dilemma is that my disaster doesn't happen until the last 10 minutes of the film -- so it's the getting there. And I ask a lot of patience of the audience."

Because they know what is coming.

"It's a Passion Play, yeah."

Or better yet: "It's like a snow globe," he says "and you shake it up, and at the end of the film, you throw it against the wall."

How did Estevez persuade such an eclectic group -- the Oscar winners, fading divas, a pop starlet and a former Hobbit -- to participate in the film?

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