Man of the Year Sucks! (A Film Review)
Ok, so I applied for a gig writing film reviews for an on-line magazine. They requested a short description of my interests and whatever, as well as a short review of something recent. So I went out last night and treated myself to Hollywood's latest malignant tumor, Man of the Year. Here's the review I sent to the magazine.
Man of the Year
by Kevin Burke
When the politi-comedy band wagon passed in front of his home drawn by the horses of popular dissent and comical punditry and coached by the likes of Jon Stewart and Bill Maher, renowned filmmaker Barry Levison was quick to hail a ride. Though as evidenced by his latest picture, Man of the Year, it would seem as though he failed to pack for the trip. The film most closely resembled, to me, your radical activist friend who shares your political views but makes them known by burning down an SUV dealership. His heart is in the right place, but his delivery of opinion is so foolishly crafted that it actually works to discredit your cause. Man of the Year is heartbreaking in that it has the opportunity to say so much, based on it's foundation of truth and desire to fix a flawed democracy, but loses any and all credibility when it seems to run into trouble deciding exactly which type of film it would like to be.
The film opens to a needless narrative by Jack Menken (Christopher Walken), manager an mentor of famed comedy news program host Tom Dobbs (Robin Williams), in which he details the steps leading up to Dobbs' becoming President of the United States. This first quarter of the film, though it provides little to no actual character development and seems to only serve as a vehicle with which to allow Robin Williams to stretch his manic muscle, is the most entertaining and includes a fantastic scene in which Dobbs takes part in a televised debate with the incumbent President and the opposition party leader. This scene takes place approximately 25 minutes into Man of the Year and is the last enjoyable scene in the film, which shortly thereafter becomes what can only be described as a Dramatic Political Romantic Comedy Thriller. If it sounds weird that's because it is. You see, Eleanor Green (Laura Linney) works for the company who developed the electronic voting machines used in the election. After she discovers that a flaw in their software has resulted in Dobbs being falsely elected President she becomes the subject of a manhunt headed by her boss Alan Stewart(Jeff Goldblum) who hopes to cover it all up. Eleanor tediously chases down Dobbs to inform him of the glitch while Alan chases down Eleanor to prevent her from doing so. The result is an odd thriller peppered uncomfortably with bits of radical comedy courtesy of Williams' wacky President elect that only seemed to be missing cartoon sound effects and faulty Acme gadgets.
If you can imagine an orgy of film genres in which the insecure plot has difficulty deciding who it wants to get it on with next then you have Man of the Year pretty much pinned down (pun intended). On a scale of Bust to Jive, this film is considerably Less Than Jake. Wait for the network television broadcast on a rainy sunday afternoon when every book in your house is lent out and your DVD player is broken.
Man of the Year
by Kevin Burke
When the politi-comedy band wagon passed in front of his home drawn by the horses of popular dissent and comical punditry and coached by the likes of Jon Stewart and Bill Maher, renowned filmmaker Barry Levison was quick to hail a ride. Though as evidenced by his latest picture, Man of the Year, it would seem as though he failed to pack for the trip. The film most closely resembled, to me, your radical activist friend who shares your political views but makes them known by burning down an SUV dealership. His heart is in the right place, but his delivery of opinion is so foolishly crafted that it actually works to discredit your cause. Man of the Year is heartbreaking in that it has the opportunity to say so much, based on it's foundation of truth and desire to fix a flawed democracy, but loses any and all credibility when it seems to run into trouble deciding exactly which type of film it would like to be.
The film opens to a needless narrative by Jack Menken (Christopher Walken), manager an mentor of famed comedy news program host Tom Dobbs (Robin Williams), in which he details the steps leading up to Dobbs' becoming President of the United States. This first quarter of the film, though it provides little to no actual character development and seems to only serve as a vehicle with which to allow Robin Williams to stretch his manic muscle, is the most entertaining and includes a fantastic scene in which Dobbs takes part in a televised debate with the incumbent President and the opposition party leader. This scene takes place approximately 25 minutes into Man of the Year and is the last enjoyable scene in the film, which shortly thereafter becomes what can only be described as a Dramatic Political Romantic Comedy Thriller. If it sounds weird that's because it is. You see, Eleanor Green (Laura Linney) works for the company who developed the electronic voting machines used in the election. After she discovers that a flaw in their software has resulted in Dobbs being falsely elected President she becomes the subject of a manhunt headed by her boss Alan Stewart(Jeff Goldblum) who hopes to cover it all up. Eleanor tediously chases down Dobbs to inform him of the glitch while Alan chases down Eleanor to prevent her from doing so. The result is an odd thriller peppered uncomfortably with bits of radical comedy courtesy of Williams' wacky President elect that only seemed to be missing cartoon sound effects and faulty Acme gadgets.
If you can imagine an orgy of film genres in which the insecure plot has difficulty deciding who it wants to get it on with next then you have Man of the Year pretty much pinned down (pun intended). On a scale of Bust to Jive, this film is considerably Less Than Jake. Wait for the network television broadcast on a rainy sunday afternoon when every book in your house is lent out and your DVD player is broken.
posted by Hooligan at 4:26 PM
2 Comments:
Thank you for the review, or should I say the warning.
I'll go see Scorsese's The Departed.
Too late. I saw it las saturday. What a terrible movie. Not even funny. One of those movies where the trailer makes it look good, but the movie sucks ass.
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