Review of Man of the Year (2006) by Dawdlingpoet — 23 Nov 2021

This movie features many one liners from Robin Williams and I'd suggest that if you like his stand up material then your likely to find this quite funny. The comedy is quite ascerbic but the story is pretty serious in tone and indeed the concept is quite interesting, infact I'd say its quite topical, highlighting the power of social media and how disillusioned people in the Western world tend to be, in terms of trusting politicians - here in the UK it made me think of the petition for Jeremy Clarkson to become prime minister - someone who is controversial but presumably people feel may understand and relate to, if not at least somehow better represents the average citizen moreso than other politicians(?) (which is a bit of a scary thought given some of the controversial views he's been in trouble for saying).

There are some some surprise plot twists present and I found the story quite intriguing - I couldn't tell what the ultimate outcome would be. Pace wise, this movie moves at a good rate, as it were. It is mainly about politics but its not as dry as it may sound - there are many scenes featuring him and those around him working on his campaign, bouncing off different ideas, with him giving some witty quips and there being discussion over how to market him as an independent political candidate. There are also multiple scenes of him appearing very passionately during debates and at rallies, which is quite compelling viewing, which could be seen as slightly car crash type viewing but I found it to be interesting and entertaining.

The other main cast member is Christopher Walken, who plays Dobbs' father, who fully supports him but equally has his own issues. The interaction between the two is quite good, although the relationship could be viewed as a bit too Hollywood perhaps, in one or two aspects which may be seen as spoilers if I were to go into details about. I felt that both of the main characters gave quite passionate performances, which certainly boosts the movies credibility.

I suppose it would be true to say its quite a Hollywood movie theme wise I suppose. I'm perhaps not sure if I find the movie in its entirety very realistic - would such scenarios be likely to happen? its a bit cheesy perhaps but I think the themes are quite pertinent, making you question how much of a joke politicians and politics or the state thereof can be seen as by others, as well as other things. There's also another more sinister subplot involving a potential whistleblower who makes an alarming discovery and is warned to drop her investigations, in relation to the election, which poses questions and again whistle blowers seem very much like a hot topic at the moment, especially in relation to the US.

Overall I found this movie quite witty, with plenty of humour and some fairly interesting plot twists, although in a way it could be seen as somewhat cheesy or predictable but generally speaking I found it quite entertaining and it made me think, it was both serious and amusing, so I enjoyed it. Its fairly light in some scenes and in others there are definitely some sinister undertones and the mix I felt was quite good, its pretty well balanced overall.

Yes. I found this to be an amusing, entertaining movie that wasn't too long and arduous - its pace is just about right, perhaps a little too fast at the start if anything but its certainly quite watchable and features some decent performances. Its quite relevant at the moment, in terms of the messages it contains and I thought it was a good watch in general, so I'm happy to recommend it. For the sake of balance, I'd say that some potential downsides would be that obviously it is based on politics which may be somewhat off putting to some, although I don't think its overly dry and also that there's a subplot which could be seen as a little cheesy. Perhaps it isn't the most original movie overall but I found it interesting and I'd say its worth a watch regardless. Its one of Robin Williams' better movies of recent years, or so I thought anyway and for that alone (plus the presence of Christopher Walken) I'd say this is worth watching.