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Man of the Year is about a comedian turned politician . . . as if there weren’t already enough jokers in Washington!
This movie serves as a reunion for Barry Levinson (Director) and Robin Williams who haven’t worked together since Good Morning Vietnam. In this movie, Robin Williams plays a comedian (if you can believe it). But, this time he plays a political comedian much like Jon Stewart on The Daily Show. As unlikely as it sounds, one of his fans suggests that he runs for president. He does and ends up winning the election, to everyone’s surprise. There’s a problem though, he wins because the new computerized voting system is faulty and it can’t add. That’s where the story gets really frustrating. A computer that can’t add…ya, right. And anyone that knows about it, like Robin’s love interest (Laura Linney) and the token bad guy (Jeff Goldblum), can’t or won’t tell anyone. To top it all off, the less than satisfying story line is mixed in with stale humor.
There are, unfortunately, so many annoying aspects of Man of the Year. The story is even more ridiculous than it sounds. “Silly” is okay in comedy if it’s meant to be silly, but this is presented as dramatic and suspenseful, when it’s really just absurd. As for the acting, the supporting cast is, across the board, hideous. We don’t know if it’s their lines or their characters or what, but even the very talented and accomplished actors like Laura Linney and Jeff Goldblum are painful to watch. Even the people from Fox News and CNN who play themselves weren’t convincing! Worst of all, though, was the comedy itself. The movie is just a constant barrage of jokes, like Robin Williams will do, but most of them you’ve either heard before or, God forbid, told before! And, to make it even worse, every time Robin Williams makes a joke, however bad, they cut to show actors fake laughing hysterically. It was like an annoying built-in laugh track. Robin Williams, however, does a decent job with the material he’s given, and there’s one scene where he tears into stereotypical politicians that is funny and feels good. But, there are just too many issues for a few good moments to make this one worthwhile.
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