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Tuesday, 31 October 2006 16:23 |
| | Meg Hale |
With the way that the natural procession of things goes, it seems that Jimmy Stewart playing a big-eyed, patriotic man who is elected into the Senate in "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" has been traded in for Robin Williams ("Good Will Hunting"), playing a comedian elected into the White House in "Man of the Year."
In many ways, the premise is somewhat the same. Though Williamsë character Tom Dobbs is by no means na?ÿve nor simple, he does have a no-nonsense, no commercialism approach to politics that, think audiences (especially as we approach election time) will find immensely refreshing.
I
couldnët help but think, when, heard the premise of this film, about
the recent rumor that comedian/political satirist Jon Stewart was
planning to run for president, with fellow comedy/news show host
Stephen Colbert as his vice president. His response to this rumor:
"Nothing says ǃÚI am ashamed of you my governmentë more than
ǃÚStewart/Colbert ǃÚ08,ë" pretty much dispelled the notion of comedians
as politicians, but for the purposes of the film, it works. While the
film does take quite a few stabs at politicians in general, it pokes no
fun at the current administration and even has fictional characters
opposing Williams.
 "Man of the
Year" is one of the few films, have viewed that is lessened by its
generous amount of plot. In fact, it really has two plots that are
constantly vying for which is the main plot and which is the subplot.
Williams is in a comedy, following a comedian on the presidential
campaign trail, treating each debate and speech as a standup
opportunity. Meanwhile, Laura Linney ("Primal Fear") is in a suspense
thriller about an employee of a computer company, who finds a glitch in
the companyës presidential voting program, resulting in a the wrong
candidate being elected. Linney finds herself being drugged-up,
kidnapped and chased by men trying to silence the information she has,
as she tries to give it to the president. Either movie would be worth
watching, but both of them swirled into one movie gives it an identity
crisis feeling. This is an awfully lighthearted comedy to have the
audience jumping and gasping as it does.
Williamsë
campaign is comprised of funnymen Lewis Black ("Accepted") and
Christopher Walken ("Click"), who pull off their roles fine, but are
regrettably not actually all that funny. In retrospect,, think
writer/director Barry Levinson ("Toys") is better at creating
situations and dialogue that are more ironic and witty than humorous.
Of course, when most screenplays hit Robin Williams, they instantly get
much funnier. Having the Grisham-like chase drama plot though, it makes
the comic scenes feel forced and unnatural. Speaking of things that are
forced and unnatural, Jeff Goldblum ("Jurassic Park"), whom we havenët
seen in a long while, makes a cameo appearance as Alan Stewart, the
attack dog for the company that created the voting program.
The whole
complex plot is wrapped up in a short, neat, mega-happy,
oh-no-weëre-approaching-the-two-hour-mark ending, that is almost
frustrating in its simplicity.
While not
necessarily a very well-made movie, it is certainly funny and has an
interesting plot. Both Williams and Linney give good performances and
create characters that audiences care about., do think this is a good
film to be made at this particular time of year, to remind audience
members of what it means to be a politician and what it means to be "We
the people," who are responsible for making sure that the right person
is elected into office.
While some of
Williamsë humor gets a bit less than clean at times, as his comedy is
wont to do, and the suspenseful scenes really will make you jump, "Man
of the Year" should be alright to be viewed by most audiences. It is
definitely good for a laugh and contains a decent love story, so it
would actually serve as a swell date movie. Go check out "Man of the
Year" if you are a lover of political comedy, a fan of Robin Williamsë
standup and someone who longs for a government that is honest with
those it was set up to protect, this is a film for you., give "Man of
the Year" four of my six planets.
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