Plot
A comedian who hosts a news satire program decides to run for president, and a computerized voting machine malfunction gets him elected.
Release Year: 2006
Rating: 6.1/10 (18,688 voted)
Critic's Score: 39/100
Director:
Barry Levinson
Stars: Robin Williams, Laura Linney, Lewis Black
Storyline Tom Dobbs, comedic host of a political talk show - a la Bill Maher and Jon Stewart - runs for President of the US as an independent candidate who, after an issues-oriented campaign and an explosive performance in the final debate, gets just enough votes to win. Trouble is he owes his victory to a computer glitch in the national touch-screen voting system marketed by Delacroy, a private company with a rising stock price. To protect their fortune, Delacroy executives want to keep the glitch a secret, but one programmer, Eleanor Green, wants Dobbs to know the truth. Can she get to him?
Cast: Robin Williams
-
Tom Dobbs
Christopher Walken
-
Jack Menken
Laura Linney
-
Eleanor Green
Lewis Black
-
Eddie Langston
Jeff Goldblum
-
Stewart
David Alpay
-
Danny
Faith Daniels
-
Moderator
Tina Fey
-
Herself
Amy Poehler
-
Herself
Doug Murray
-
Mathias
Chris Matthews
-
News Anchor #1
James Carville
-
Political Commentator #1
Cathleen Crier
-
Political Commentator #2
Rick Roberts
-
Hemmings
Karen Hines
-
Alison McAndrews
Taglines:
What if a Comedian Ran for President?..........What if He Won?
Opening Weekend: $12,299,380
(USA)
(15 October 2006)
(2515 Screens)
Gross: $37,442,180
(USA)
(24 November 2006)
Technical Specs
Runtime:
Did You Know?
Trivia:
In the scene where Robin Williams goes into the laundromat to vote, the name of the facility is named 'Papas', the same name of the character Robin Williams played in
House of D.
Goofs:
Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers):
Tom Dobbs says: "NASA spent 30 Million dollars creating the pen that would write upside down in space. Did you know that? The Russians, how ever, were able to solve this problem with a five-cent pencil! Writes right side up, writes up-side down. After five quarts of vodka, is still writing!" In reality, pencils were originally used by the American and Russian space programs but were discarded because they were impractical for usage in outer space: The wooden barrel is flammable, and the graphite dust generated conducts electricity.
Quotes: Tom Dobbs:
When I was a young boy I used to look at pictures of naked ladies, hence my right hand is very strong. I touched myself more than a third base coach.
User Review
"Man of the Year" is a very good political thriller/comedy that will suffer at the box office because of its misleading marketing campaign.
Rating: 7/10
"Man of the Year" tells the story of Tom Dobbs (Robin Williams) a
political comedian (like Jon Stewart or Stephen Colbert) who has his
own television show. On his show he talks about all sorts of things but
his main focus are political issues which he is very opinionated about.
One day on his show, a fan from the audience raises the idea that Dobbs
should run for President of the United States. After that episode
aired, millions flocked to the web to create various petitions and
voice their opinions on why Dobbs would make a great candidate for the
President for the United States. A few weeks later, Dobbs decides to
run for President and low and behold wins the election. Everything
seems to be going as planned until a woman by the name of Eleanor Green
(Laura Linney) shows up and starts some controversy regarding his
position. A funny yet serious political thriller ensues…
Man anyone walking into this film expecting to see a brainless comedy
will surely be disappointed. I always wonder how some people are film
marketers when I see how misleading their marketing campaigns. "Man of
the Year" is a great example of bad and misleading marketing, because
everything from the poster, to the trailer, to the online
advertisements makes this movie look and feel like a comedy. I would
honestly have to say about 1/3 of the film is funny while the rest of
it plays off as a political thriller that makes good arguments and
allows its audience to think. I kind of wonder in this case if the
marketing was done on purpose since this film addresses pretty serious
issues in-between its comedy routine.
But enough about marketing, lets get down to the film itself.
I really liked "Man of the Year" even though I was expecting to see a
comedy instead of a serious film. One of the many things I will give
this film credit for is that the film does a decent job switching
between comedy and drama even though at first it seems a little
awkward. I really think that after you figure this out that the movie
is going to be more of a political thriller than a comedy you get
comfortable with it. Some may not because they are lead to believe that
they are seeing a comedy and don't understand what this film is trying
to say in the end but for those people they can blame the marketers for
not advertising this film right.
"Man of the Year" talks about a lot of things and seems to have a very
strong opinion. As Tom Dobbs speaks he is saying things that need to be
said and isn't about candy coating them. I also think the whole
political subplot, while most critics say hurt the film probably again
because of the misleading marketing, was very good. The idea of
computerize voting has been tossed around the last few years and with
all the problems computers have the issue being addressed in this film
could surely be realistic. Also the control big businesses have over
voting also gets addressed.
As far as acting goes, I think everyone involved did a good job. Robin
Williams had a chance to be funny yet serious at the same time by
playing Tom Dobbs. Some say that Williams has overstayed his welcome as
a comedian but I personally still think he is funny and he's a good
serious actor as well. This is probably one of the few occasions though
that we get to see him go back and forth from serious to funny and I
think it works well. Also it's nice to see Lewis Black co-star in a
decent film. Again I like Black when he appears on "The Daily Show" and
does stand up however most of the films he has been in were awful. This
was a good movie for him because I think his political views fit in
with the story that director Barry Levinson was trying to convey. Laura
Linney is a fine addition to the cast and proves once again that she is
a very good actress and lastly Christopher Walken and Jeff Goldblum
both do a very good job as always with this roles handed to them.
"Man of the Year" was written and directed by Barry Levinson, the man
who has brought us such films as "Rain Man," "Good Morning Vietnam,"
and "Wag the Dog." Levinson does a fine job writing the film and
directing it. Like I said I know a lot of critics didn't like the whole
political thriller aspect of the film but I thought it fit in nicely.
It was actually nice to watch a mainstream movie that allowed me to
both think and laugh at the same time. Barry Levinson did a fine job
with this film.
In the end, don't go into this film expecting to see the movie that the
commercials are selling you. It does have laughs but at the same time
it plays off more as a political drama. It's not as stupid or silly as
the marketing campaign leads you to believe. I really liked the fact
that this film that this film wasn't a typical Hollywood film. It tried
to be a comedy and a serious drama at the same time and worked at least
for me. I like the fact that the film didn't really tone down any of
the issues it addressed nor did it have a typical Hollywood ending. I
was trying to call the ending from the get go but surprisingly it
didn't end the way I thought which made me happy. It's a movie that
will make you laugh but then a few minutes later allow you to think and
wonder what's going to happen next. I think its a good movie that will
be hurt by its bad marketing.
0