| Man of the Year (Full Screen Edition) | 
 enlarge | Director: Barry Levinson
Actors: Robin Williams, Christopher Walken, Laura Linney, Lewis Black, Jeff Goldblum
Studio: Universal Studios
Category: DVD
List Price: $12.98
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Avg. Customer Rating:  103 reviews
Sales Rank: 19564
Format: Ac-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, Dvd-video, Full Screen, Subtitled, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), French (Subtitled), French (Dubbed), Spanish (Dubbed)
Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 115
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: MCAD61032327D
UPC: 025193232724
EAN: 0025193232724
ASIN: B000LC5B7Y
Theatrical Release Date: October 13, 2006
Release Date: February 20, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
On a lark the host of a late-night political talk show decides to run for president. The thing is he never expected to win. Studio: Uni Dist Corp. (mca) Release Date: 11/27/2007 Starring: Robin Williams Laura Linney Run time: 105 minutes Rating: Pg13
Amazon.com
A comedy with serious intentions, Man of the Year attempts to challenge the audience's notions of what is and isn't real when it comes to politics. Tom Dobbs (Robin Williams) is a popular political talk show host. As a lark, he runs for president and wins. The thing is, he's not any more unqualified than the other candidates, so his victory doesn't seem quite so outrageous. But when it turns out that the computer ballot firm responsible for tallying all the votes may have had a glitch--and that a recount would negate his win--mayhem ensues and the film segues from comedy, to drama, and back to comedy (sort of) again. Directed by Barry Levinson (Diner, Wag the Dog), the film doesn't take advantage of Williams' natural humor or charm. He at times appears to be chomping at the bit to unleash a comedic tirade or two, only to be held back by stiff lines. Williams only truly appears to be enjoying himself when trading lines with Laura Linney, who portrays the hapless do-gooder at the ballot firm who's being set up to appear unreliable. With some fine performances by a supporting cast that includes Jeff Goldblum, Lewis Black, and the inimitable Christopher Walken, Man of the Year occasionally hints at greatness. But at best, it's a lukewarm comedy with a diluted message. --Jae-Ha Kim
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| Customer Reviews: Read 98 more reviews...
 entertaining and thought-provoking November 22, 2008
Tom Dobbs (Robin Williams) is a political comedian. Think Jon Stewart or Stephen Colbert. Christopher Walken plays his manager. One night on his show, someone asks him why he doesn't run for President, and the ball starts rolling. At first, it's just a lark, a publicity stunt, but it becomes more real when he debates the regular candidates. And even more real when he wins.
Or is it? Laura Linney plays a woman who works for the company who devised the computer voting system, and she's discovered a glitch. She tells the head of the company (Jeff Goldblum), and receives the equivalent of a "don't worry your pretty little head about it." She thinks the problem's been fixed, but when she sees the election results, she knows it hasn't been.
And then the story becomes serious, as the company tries to shut her up using whatever means is necessary, and all those in power are more concerned with perceptions than reality. As long as Tom Dobbs looks like the legally elected President, that's more important than whether or not he actually is.
I truly do not think that the movie changed directions--it's more that the viewers' expectations did. Which is, I think, the fault of the marketing department.
Given the way the story is set up in the first half, there's no other way it could have played out in the second. The computer company's willingness to overlook the problem and the huge amount of money riding on the program was introduced early on. There's no way you can make that funny, and no way you can resolve it in an amusing way without being unbelievable.
And much as the ending pained me, there was no way it could have ended differently, either. The ending message is that maybe the crisis would prompt politicians to act differently in the future, but, call me a cynic, I wouldn't count on it.
I think (hope) it made people uncomfortable to think that people in positions of power really can be that ruthless. Hopefully, after they've vented about movies that "aren't really comedies," a little spark will linger in the backs of their heads.
My biggest pet peeve: the "problem" with the software. I'm not even going to spoiler it, because it's really, really stupid, and it's not much of a revelation, anyway: the program had a glitch that made it automatically select a name with double letters in it as the winner. It would have been much better to leave the actual glitch vague than to come up with something that idiotic.
If you're a programmer, and that seems logical to you, please let me know. I'll feel so much better about it.
 Needed a programmer on writing staff October 28, 2008
The BASIC premise of this movie was interesting, and the story is mildly entertaining, but any high school student with programming experience could tell you that the reason behind the computer glitch is too lame to give any credibility. A college student with a couple of computer programming courses could design a more plausible excuse for a glitch.
 As a comedy it falls short, but it surprisingly works well as a dramatic thriller... August 29, 2008
`Man of the Year' is essentially two different films, one is a comedy about a comedian who is surprisingly elected as our next U.S. President; the other is a drama about a woman who stumbles across a glitch in a balloting service that ultimately elects the wrong president. The two work well in moments, and yet restrict each other in moments. The end result is an entertaining film that doesn't quite reach its full potential.
The film tells the story of comedian Tom Dobbs (a comedian in the line of Jon Stewart) who on a whim places himself in the running for the presidency and, surprisingly, wins. After his win he has to adjust to his new role as head of the country while Eleanor Green, a former employee of the company manufacturing the new balloting devices, chases him around trying to inform him that he is not really the president.
As a comedy the film does not work as well as it does as a drama. The plot line involving Eleanor as she hides out from her former bosses who want to silence her for fear of profit losses on account of their error is far more riveting than the plot involving Dobbs and his presidency. The problem is that Williams is not really funny here, while Linney is superbly dramatic in her role. Williams appears to be restrained by the material, never given a chance to really break away from his controlled persona and unleash the comedic genius we love to embrace. Linney on the other hand is given a much more complex character to embody and so her performance elevates her section of the film. When she shares the screen with Williams he seems to feed off of her energy and thus his performance shines brighter.
Christopher Walken and Lewis Black steal most of Williams' thunder, which is sad because this film would seem like the perfect vehicle for the comedic talents of Williams. He just appears dull most of the time. Jeff Goldblum is devilishly evil and actually made me proud (I am not a fan of his generally). But this movie belongs to Linney, for she is really the greatest thing about it.
In the end I must say that I was a little put off with this film, as a comedy, but as a dramatic thriller I was actually quite impressed. The two don't mesh together as well as they should have (mostly because the comedic portions of the film aren't really all that funny) but in the end we are left with a film that is entertaining and is satisfying and is definitely unexpected (who would have ever guessed it would work as a thriller as apposed to a comedy?).
I would watch it again, and enjoy it again, so feel free to watch and enjoy for yourself.
Intelligent Comedy July 5, 2008
Man of the Year
With Happy Madison pulling a ton of random movies that generally have the same characters in them, it's nice to have a comedy movie that isn't a bunch of slapstick humor. Robin Williams plays Tom Dobbs, a comedian who loves to make jokes about politics. Oddly enough, Tom Dobbs soon finds himself is the role of candidate for presidency largely due to his fans enjoying his comments about politics.
Tom Dobbs ends up winning the Presidential Election by using his radical personality to win people over. Soon he learns that a new voting system that was implemented had an error. He did not actually win the Presidential Election. Eleanor Green, a creator of the new system, soon finds herself in tremendous trouble while trying to explain the error to Dobbs. She is often attacked and nearly killed.
The movie is a weird mix of comedy and a bit of thriller. Any point with Robin Williams leads to some good comedy and a ton of political jokes. Eleanor Green gives you a bit of suspense while watching her being chased. I think the two parts mix together and give you a very entertaining movie. If you are tired of slapstick humor and want something intelligent, check this on out.
 An politiacly correct review May 19, 2008
I loved this movie for once Hollywood dared to show how is the real political system.
Your rich you can be president your poor forget it. To show a comedian running for presidency is good. This movie as a message to give and I heard it and I hope you have.
Robbin Williams is at is best. I hasn't be disapointed in fact I was entertained and although it is a comedy opened my eyes on the political system.
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