Review of Man of the Year (2006) by Frances H — 29 Mar 2016

*May contain spoilers*.

I had high hopes with Robin Williams and Christopher Walken teaming up for a political satire. Maybe my expectations were too high, but Man of the Year did little more than disappoint after the first half hour. Williams executes hilariously truthful monologues about the issues. The debate was arguably the funniest scene of the entire movie, as Williams spoke frankly and comically about what is wrong with politicians.

Unfortunately, the main plot comes into play after his presidential win, with Laura Linney taking on a more prominent role. The movie commences its tumble downhill, as the plot is weak and the film drags to its boring and all-too-cheery finish. It focuses on Greenâ??s findings about the computerized voting system and her determination to tell Dobbs the truth. Linneyâ??s character was irritating to watch. The blame cannot be wholly placed on her, but her annoying character, Eleanor Green. Linneyâ??s portrayal was strong, but the character should not have had such a large role in a supposed â??comedy.â??

The film lacks humor other than Williamsâ??s lines. Williams is humorous, but he alone cannot liven up the dull plot. There was an obvious attempt (and failure) to give Lewis Black funny dialogue, but it mostly left me wondering exactly why Black was in the movie. His role seemed irrelevant.

The ending was cheesy, with appearances from Tina Fey and Amy Poehler. The famous comedic duo could not save the film with their short scene. I was happy to see the movie end, albeit lazily.

Williams and Walken are undoubtedly talented, but were not used to their full potential. I kept waiting for the excitement to happen, until I was watching the credits roll by and realized it was never coming.