Man of the Year
When I heard what Man of the Year was about, I thought the movie might have promise. Wrong I was. The movie takes issues that are important and relevant right now, and basically dilutes them into an unrelevant/ uninteresting paste. Its kind of sad to see.
The movie stars Robin Williams as Tom Dobbs who is a Jon Stewart/Bill Maher- like talk show host. He runs for president and wins, which is a very cool concept in and of itself.
The problem herein is that Tom Dobbs wins because of a glitch in the voting system. Most of the movie centers around a female voting ballot employee (played by Laura Linney) who figures this out trying to inform Tom Dobbs that he did not legally win the presidency. And then he starts falling in love with this woman. Wow- what a dull and uninventive idea.
"Man of the Year" was directed and written by Barry Levinson who directed "Wag the Dog" which obviously was a far more popular and relevant film about a phony war staged by moviemakers. I dont exactly understand how you can go from making "Wag the Dog" to "Man of the Year." The political satire is actually extremely funny and entertaining in "Wag the Dog." In "Man of the Year" you are left wondering what is this? Is it even satire at all? Because "Man of the Year" is certainly not funny and is far from entertaining. This movie was like a very weak romantic comedy with a semi-political slant.
Actually I heard Howard Stern was initially supposed to play Robin William's lead role of Tom Dobbs. I have to admit, though I am not a fan of Howard Sterns by any count, seeing him in this lead role may have improved the movie a bit. The reason for this is that it would have brought an interesting level of reality into the film since Howard Stern is already a controversial talk show host. And it would have at least made the movie seem a bit quirky and weird. Oh-well, Howard Stern certainly dodged a bullet.
Barry Levinson is supposed to be one of America's most famous directors. This is just a sad, sad, and boring work. Dont see it.
Grading
Story: D
Acting: C
Visuals: C
Originality/Innovation: D
Enjoyability: D
Overall: D |
