Review of Man of the Year (1995) by Amanda K — 12 Nov 2012

Funny for the first forty minutes or so of its running time, "Man of the Year" is frustratingly unengaging, during its porous second half. The premise is solid enough, with the plot following comedian Tom Dobbs (Robin Williams), who hosts a successful Daily-Show clone on cable television.

When an off-hand remark starts an Internet petition to elect Dobbs as the next President, he responds by eschewing commercials and public spending in favor of energetic (and hilarious) debate performances.

Things look to get very interesting when a flaw in a fancy new digital voting system anoints Dobbs as the leader of the USA. Unfortunately, the script cannot take advantage of whatever comedy momentum the film builds up during the first half, with cheapened attempts at suspense and romance subplots fall embarrassingly flat.

The direction is swift enough, and the actors manage to get in some good comic banter (I wish Lewis Black's character of a jaded writer for Dobb's show, were fleshed out more), but it's mostly much ado about nothing in terms of satire.

Unlike movies cut from a similar satirical cloth, "Man of the Year" sputters along without having anything new to add to the discussion. Skip it.