Man of the Year

Reviewed by:
Pete Hammond

Let's get the good news out of the way first. In Man of the Year, director Barry Levinson's satirical look at a late night TV talk show comic who runs for President of the United States, Robin Williams turns in his smartest, funniest performance in at least a decade. He's a riot. After watching his comic instincts strait-jacketed in RV, that stifling mess he starred in earlier this year, it's nice to see him do something that winds him up, sets him loose and lets him rock. Levinson directed Williams in one of his best films, Good Morning, Vietnam, and knows what makes him tick. Unfortunately this movie is about as schizophrenic as they come. On the one hand, it wants to be a hilarious satirical look at how television can elect a president, even a comedian with no prior political background. Weaving in and out of this amusing, if not wildly original premise, however, is a subplot involving Laura Linney as an employee of a sort of Big Brother computer corporation who uncovers a voting scandal being hidden by company bigwigs. This sinister plotline threatens to ruin all the goodwill set up by Williams and basically torpedoes whatever comic value there was in the first place. But for the star's fans who will probably make up whatever audience there is for Man of the Year, it's comforting to know there's still life in this aging but still prodigiously talented funnyman.