Man of the Year

For this year’s “President’s Day” review, I will look at a comedy where it talks about what happens if you elect a comedian as president. If you haven’t guessed by now, I’m referencing the 2006 comedy “Man of the Year.”

David Medsker started his review out by saying, “A funny thing happened while I was watching the comedy “Man of the Year”: a thriller broke out. Not some blunt-instrument melodrama, like what happened in Robin Williams and director Barry Levinson’s last collaboration, “Good Morning, Vietnam,” but a full-blown thriller. And even after they launched the thriller, they refused to give up on the comedy. Now, comedy and drama can work together, hence the silly industry buzzword dramedy. Comedy can even work well with horror, which is good since a lot of horror movies are funny whether or not they actually intend to be. But thrillers are about establishing tension, and tension is oil to comedy’s water. The end result is a movie at odds with itself; Levinson does himself in by trying to say too much.”

The late Robin Williams plays Tom Dobbs, the host of a satirical news show, and while making his audience laugh one night, an audience member suggest that, instead of cracking jokes on politicians, he should run for office and beat them at what they are known best for. Instantly, he decides to do it, and to his great surprise, a whole lot of people like his no-nonsense message. After an impressing performance in the presidential debate, he becomes the popular one, and when all the votes are counted on Election Day, Dobbs is the new president.

However, he didn’t really win. The Delacroy-made voting machines that everyone used (Medsker said, “which I’m sure bears no relation to Ohio-based company Diebold”) had a glitch in the system, and Eleanor Green, played by Laura Linney, the Delacroy employee who finds the glitch, is demanded to keep her mouth shut. Obviously, her company does so much to dishonor her before she can tell anyone. However, she knows that Tom Dobbs will believe her, so she tries to find him in order to tell him the sad news.

My last paragraph surprised you, didn’t it? Medsker asks, “You thought “Man of the Year” was an update on the light-hearted movie “Dave,” right? Wrong. Levinson is out for blood, and despite Dobbs’ claims that both parties are screwed up, his words only target one of those parties, and I’ll leave it to you to guess which one.” The voting machine story proves to be the movie’s downfall. It just cannot be taken lightly, and in the end, it creates a madly uneven tone that brings the movie to an abrupt stop on countless moments.

Yes, this is sad because the funny parts are very enjoyable, if predictable. (Apparently, those who have seen Williams’ standup routine that came out before this movie will know many of these jokes already.) Williams smartly keeps his strong, inner improv genius in check, but maybe that’s because he’s bordered by Christopher Walken and the angry comedian Lewis Black, as his manager and head writer, respectively. Jeff Goldblum gives in a wonderfully shady bit part as Alan Stewart, the eyeliner-wearing head counsel for Delacroy (Medsker said, “seriously, it’s like he’s reprising his performance on the “SNL” skit “Goth Talk””). Linney, on the other hand, has the movie’s most difficult role, the unfairly maligned goody two-shoes without a friend in her life. It also looks as though the movie was about a step away from showing how the process had already damaged the apparently honorable Dobbs camp within weeks, but they stepped off the cliff at the last minute. Darn.

Medsker compared, “Watching “Man of the Year” is like taking a shower when one of your roommates flushes the toilet.” Without caution, everything changes in a really unlikable way. Levinson is hands-down flashy as a director, but holy smokes, is he good when he’s got his A-game material. Medsker ended his review by saying, ““Man of the Year,” however, is like the Zucker Brothers remaking “The Pelican Brief.””

In the end, I would say watch this movie. If you like the cast members that are in this movie, definitely give it a chance and you will be entertained from first minute to last, I promise you. If anyone wonders why Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert or John Oliver won't run for President, this movie proves to you why. Also, there are cameo appearances in this movie from political commentator James Carville, talk show host Chris Matthews, and even the SNL duo Tina Fey and Amy Poehler.

Happy President’s Day my online readers! Check in this Friday for the third installment of “Black History Month Movie” reviews.