There are many annoyingly predictable and inexplicable rules of the universe. After sprinting two blocks in flip flops, you will always reach the T stop just as an empty car is pulling away. You can be sure your flight only leaves on time when you get to the airport late. And any movie under two hours is sure to paradoxically drag out and end as a disappointing flop. Despite its all-star cast and promising premise, the hour-and-fifty-five-minute-long Man of the Year falls prey to this cinematic Murphy’s law.
As election time nears, political spoofs are sprouting up everywhere. Of the plethora of presidential parodies, Man of the Year blends into mediocrity at best. In a series of freak accidents, comedian Tom Dobbs (Robin Williams) runs for and wins the presidency, resulting in, well, not that much. Although director Barry Levinson has put Williams’ manic energy to great use before in Good Morning, Vietnam and has created daring, dead-on political satire in Wag the Dog, he doesn’t do either in the middle-of-the-road Man of the Year. While Levinson initially tried to convey a message about discontent with politics as usual and the American electoral system, it appears he gave up halfway through to go for cheap laughs and an ineffective and obvious political thriller.
With a cast of talented individual comics, Man of the Year had the potential to be wildly entertaining. Robin Williams, comedic icon of the ’90s, made a bad choice in selecting the movie to revive his once flourishing career. While Williams usually employs impeccable timing and sharp humor, his portrayal of the Dobbs character — really just Williams performing his stand up act — switches too often between whiny, serious and humorous. Laura Linney, Jeff Goldblum, Christopher Walken and Lewis Black pop up here and there but with practically zero effect.
Instead of an overuse of clichéd behind-the-scenes shots and montages, Man of the Year needs more substance and more comedy to convey its message. It stands as an unintentional mirror for the problem with our politicians — they’re bland and forgettable, with little new to say.