Cardinal Points

Issue date: 10/27/06 Section: Life

courtesy of www.imdb.com

Imagine your favorite comedian running for the next presidential race. Now imagine that he actually won.

This is the basis of "Man of the Year", starring Robin Williams as Tom Dobbs. Dobbs is the host of a late-night political talk show, comparable to "The Daily Show."

One night during his show, with the encouragement of audience members and fans, Dobbs decides to run for president.

What happens from there is an election for the history books.

Dobbs becomes the center of attention because of his eccentric attitudes and willingness to voice his true opinions.

Backed with the additional comical presence of Lewis Black, Christopher Walken and Jeff Goldblum, "Man of the Year" appears to be a straight-forward comedy on paper but it is much more, or less, than that.

While Williams, Black, Walken and even Goldblum, with his minor role, present the quality of acting that viewers have come to expect, it seems they don't fit perfectly into the roles they play.

The movie begins as the comedy that it was portrayed as in movie trailers and advertisements with the focus on humor and the idea of a comedian becoming president. However, less the 30 minutes in, the movie turns from in-your-face comedy to wasted potential. At that point the viewer can say good-bye to any hope of a successful comedy or any signifigant source of humor at all.

Williams attempts to keep the Jon Stewart-like attitude throughout the movie but it does not work when the focus of the movie shifts from Williams to an issue with the election and a background character who becomes the bane of Dobbs' existence and love interest at the same time.

Regardless, Williams makes the role of Tom Dobbs as believable as an over-the-top comedian-turned-president can be. Another mistake on the part of director Barry Levinson was giving someone like Black a minute comic-relief role.

True, Black is in fact a comedian, but his comedy is presenting pressing issues in an unrestricted manor while flailing his arms about, not focusing on cheesy punch lines that divert the audience away from the plot.

This is just about the extent of humor through out the remainder of the movie, little snippets of humor or a quirk or two sprinkled over the surprisingly serious plot.

Levinson tries to cram too much into a film whose structure is focused on comical "what if" circumstances.

Continued...

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