I have been a fan of Robin Williams for years and I tend to see any movie he is in at least once. I think he’s hilarious and can also pull off more serious parts as well. I wanted to see Man of the Year as soon as I heard about it.

Tom Dobbs was the host of a popular political talk show who decided to run for President after a comment from an audience member before one of his shows. Tom had very serious ideas about the issues even though he was known as a comedian. He was invited to the last debate because he had been handling his campaign in a serious way. He went a little wild during the debate, using jokes to make his points. After that he did handle the rest of his campaign in a different way and was actually gaining support. He was very surprised when he actually won the election even though he had only been able to get on the ballot in thirteen states. He won all those states, which gave him enough electoral votes to win. Eleanor Green had discovered something about the election. She wasn’t sure what to do with what she knew and ultimately decided to try to talk to Tom about it. Two men were aware of what Eleanor knew and didn’t want her telling anyone else.

Man of the Year was the latest in a long line of movies that have been promoted as one type of movie when they are really something else. Going by the trailers and all the advertising I had seen for the movie, it looked like this was strictly a comedy. There were very funny scenes in the movie and I laughed a lot. The problem was that this movie wasn’t strictly a comedy. There were several serious scenes and even some scenes that seemed to be trying to turn the movie into a political thriller type of movie. It was rather jarring when the movie first had a suspenseful type of scene. The worked all right even though I wasn’t sure exactly why that event happened. It was just strange when it popped up in what I had thought was meant to be only a comedy. Even with the addition of things to make the movie more suspenseful, the plot really wasn’t complicated.

Tom had a lot of serious, thought out ideas on the issues and he tried to run a serious campaign. People weren’t really listening to what he was saying and his manager, Jack, kept pushing him to add in jokes when he spoke. Eddie, another man that worked for Jack on the television show, was also wanting Tom to add comedy to his speeches. People did start to pay attention to Tom once he did what Jack and Eddie wanted him to do. Tom did want to make a difference even though he entered the campaign on a lark. The movie also contained a more serious subplot related to an actual concern many people had in the previous presidential election. I don’t want to say too much and ruin the movie for people who haven’t seen it. I’ll just say there was a serious side to the movie, so people should be prepared for that.

There were a lot of funny moments throughout Man of the Year even though it did contain some serious things. The movie made me laugh many times and I did think it was funny overall. It just wasn’t as funny throughout the entire movie as I had thought it would be from the trailers. Most of the laughs came from things that Tom said or did. He was known for being the host of a political comedy type of talk show, a lot like The Daily Show With Jon Stewart. There were even a few moments when Williams was allowed to shine by doing some of his stand-up comedy type of jokes as Tom. I have a feeling a lot of those things were improvised by Williams since he has done that in the past with some of his other movies. Tom poked fun at politicians in general many times throughout the movie. I thought the jokes worked well and were very funny. People that don’t like Williams’s type of humor may want to stay away from this movie. Some of the jokes that Tom made were a bit racy, which had to contribute to the movie getting a PG-13 rating. There wasn’t anything really offensive in the movie, though some parents may have concerns over some of the jokes. Really I don’t think children would be interested in seeing the movie anyway.

Most people just saw Tom as a comedian. He did have his serious side and he cared about the issues. Certain things about his life did come out during the campaign as he found himself the focus of a lot of media scrutiny. Robin Williams fit the part perfectly. Tom had a legitimate reason for going off on his comedy tangents, so it worked well when Williams did that. Eleanor figured out something related to the election that put her in danger. I don’t want to get specific about that and accidentally spoil the movie for someone. Eleanor was a kind woman that just wanted to do the right thing. Laura Linney was really good in the part. Most of the movies I’ve seen her in have been more serious like Absolute Power, The Exorcism of Emily Rose, and Mystic River. I have liked her in every movie I’ve seen her in.

Jack had been Tom’s manager for years. Jack kept pushing Tom to do jokes and be funny during the campaign. Jack wasn’t bothered by certain things that upset Tom. This was one of the more normal characters that Christopher Walken has played. I’ve thought he was creepy in many of his movies. He is very talented, but he usually gives me the creeps. In the last several years, he has been in more comedies playing less creepy characters. Eddie also worked for Tom in connection with the television show, though I’m not really sure what he did. He spouted off a lot of strange things at times. Louis Black was fine in the movie. I recently saw him in another comedy, Accepted. Jeff Goldblum turned up in a few scenes as Alan, a man that was very focused on making sure that Eleanor didn’t tell anyone what she knew.

Main Cast

Louis Black - Eddie
Jeff Goldblum - Alan
Laura Linney - Eleanor
Christopher Walken - Jack
Robin Williams - Tom Dobbs

I did really enjoy Man of the Year even though it wasn’t exactly what I was expecting. I have a feeling the fact that the movie was promoted as only a comedy may end up hurting it. On the other hand, the trailers for this movie certainly didn’t tell too much of the movie like many others have done in the last several years. I do think the movie is worth seeing. People should just keep in mind that there will be some serious and even thriller movie elements as well.

This is another movie that I would give three and a half stars to if I could. Since I can’t, I decided to round up to four.

Christopher Walken Movie Reviews
America's Sweethearts ~ Batman Returns ~ Man on Fire ~ Sleepy Hollow ~ The Stepford Wives ~ Wedding Crashers ~

Robin Williams Movie Reviews
Aladdin ~ Dead Again ~ Death to Smoochy ~ The Final Cut ~ Insomnia ~ One Hour Photo ~ Robots ~ R.V. ~

Recommended: Yes