Man of the Year (2006)

21% of critics liked it
(142 reviews)
51% of users liked it
(196,219 ratings)

Good Morning, Vietnam duo Barry Levinson and Robin Williams re-team to tell the tale of a quick-witted radio talk-show host whose fanciful bid for the presidency becomes a surprising reality in the one political comedy that truly speaks for the people. When talk show host Tom Dobbs (Robin Williams)… More Good Morning, Vietnam duo Barry Levinson and Robin Williams re-team to tell the tale of a quick-witted radio talk-show host whose fanciful bid for the presidency becomes a surprising reality in the one political comedy that truly speaks for the people. When talk show host Tom Dobbs (Robin Williams) makes an offhand comment that he would be a better president than the leader who currently occupies the White House, a grassroots campaign conducted by his legions of fans finds him unexpectedly ushered into the Oval Office and forced to live up to his promise. Unfortunately for Dobbs, the revelation that his surprise victory was actually the result of a voting computer glitch and not majority vote leaves the outspoken funnyman struggling with the decision to stay the course in the Oval Office or head back behind the microphone where he is truly in his element. Laura Linney, Christopher Walken, Jeff Goldblum, and Lewis Black co-star the satirical comedy scripted and directed by Levinson. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: PG, 1 hr. 55 min.
Directed By: Barry Levinson
Genres: Television, Comedy

In Theaters: Oct 13, 2006 Wide
On DVD: Feb 20, 2007
Studio: Universal Pictures

Critic Reviews

Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune
Levinson has written and directed in many genres. But rarely has he made a film as indecisive and diffident as Man of the Year.
Richard Roeper, Ebert & Roeper
A surprisingly complex and dark satire that skewers the media as well as the political process.
James Berardinelli, ReelViews
Man of the Year makes telling points and has a lot to say, but it loses its voice along with its consistency around the mid-way point, and that will likely make it an also-ran in the box office race.
Stephanie Zacharek, Salon.com
It's a comedy, a political thriller, a love story: Barry Levinson's Man of the Year tries to be all things to all people and fails on every count -- a little like the generic, ineffectual politicians it's pretending to excoriate.
Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal
A few observations about the hollowness of party politics, plus Robin Williams doing lots of funny shtick as a Jon Stewart-like comic running for president, have been thrown together with low regard for logic or consistent tone.
Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle
A genre-less, imaginative riff by an intelligent filmmaker on the state of the country.
Jane Boursaw, Common Sense Media
Lame political comedy misses the mark.
Amber Wilkinson, Eye for Film
Uneven, but never less than entertaining.
Matthew Turner, ViewLondon
Man of the Year has some nice ideas and a handful of excellent scenes, but it struggles to find the right tone and is hamstrung by a ridiculous plot point.
Derek Malcolm, This is London
Too compromised to be more than a reasonably pleasurable entertainment, as if it is scared about what it is saying about the American political process.
Tim Robey, Daily Telegraph
This being Robin Williams, it's hard to find his routines as vote-winningly hilarious as they're meant to be.
Karl French, Financial Times
There are good moments, although it doesn't work properly either as a satirical thriller or a rom-com.
Cath Clarke, Guardian [UK]
Cynicism or stupidity? It's hard to say which has the run of this idiotic satire in which Robin Williams plays a talk-show host who runs for president on a ticket of cleaning up politics.
Jon Fortgang, Film4
One of the least convincing political satires of the millennium so far - no bite, no vision and no laughs.
Anna Smith, BBC
Political comedy morphs into attempted thriller in this confused, fitfully entertaining film.
Kam Williams, EURWeb
Trust me, a sloppily-edited, unmanageable insult to the intelligence with far too many shortcomings to deserve any further analysis.
Jean-François Vandeuren, Panorama
Levinson pose les bonnes questions par le biais d'une démarche artistique un peu laborieuse, mais qui n'en demeure pas moins directe et efficace.
Mark Palermo, Coast (Halifax, Nova Scotia)
Eschewing personality, it mistakes pandering for insight.
Frank Lovece, Film Journal International
If you look the other way and go with it regardless, Man of the Year can be an idealistic pleasure.
Urban Cinefile Critics, Urban Cinefile
It's not a simple genre film, and some will find it complicated to digest for that reason, but if you're up for a bit of intelligent stimulation, this will reward

Read all 21 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

Alice S

Friend and fellow Flixster reviewer, Scott Wilson, asserts that Man of the Year "couldn't decide what kind of movie it was going to be," and I agree, in so much as it does shift tones a lot. It goes from irreverent comedy to political satire to whimsical romance to… More
Friend and fellow Flixster reviewer, Scott Wilson, asserts that Man of the Year "couldn't decide what kind of movie it was going to be," and I agree, in so much as it does shift tones a lot. It goes from irreverent comedy to political satire to whimsical romance to schizoparanoid thriller, but I find the shifts suspenseful and entertaining. The usually crass and bombastic Robin Williams is so genteel and streamlined as the television news comedian turned presidential candidate. He's even a bit of a stud when Eleanor Green enters the picture. He and Laura Linney seem to have good chemistry, perhaps by virtue of Linney's not-necessarily-loving but definitely-tension-filled gaze. Her drug-induced breakdown is quite alarming, going from 0 to 60 and back with her different intonations of "I've got it. I've got it! I'VE GOT IT! ... I've got it."
Emily A

I think this film is based on Al Franken's run for senator, or a hypotehtical scenario where Jon Stewart decides that he's had enough of pointing out bungling and decides to do a little himself. But imagine that character is played by Robin Williams and he actually wins.… More
I think this film is based on Al Franken's run for senator, or a hypotehtical scenario where Jon Stewart decides that he's had enough of pointing out bungling and decides to do a little himself. But imagine that character is played by Robin Williams and he actually wins. It's hard to tell if this film was trying to be a comedy driven by Williams' persona and performance or whether it was supposed to be a drama about corporate election rigging and fraud. It was kind of both and a lot of neither, at times. It's pretty good, but I think it might have been better if it had come down on one side or the other. And if it had been a drama, it should have been devoid of Williams.
Anthony L

It was going so well before the unnecessary plot deviation into election cover ups and faulty election computers, the problem is that this film doesn't know what it wants to be. The idea of a Chat show host/Comedian/Celebrity winning the election was good enough a story to… More
It was going so well before the unnecessary plot deviation into election cover ups and faulty election computers, the problem is that this film doesn't know what it wants to be. The idea of a Chat show host/Comedian/Celebrity winning the election was good enough a story to explore alone, the acting was good and the dialogue was really good and then all of a sudden, In walks Laura Linney (a very hit or miss actor at the best of times) and the whole film goes rapidly down hill, swerving between unconvincing romance, less than thrilling thriller territory and mis-placed comedy. A real wasted opportunity. Annoying as what I meant to rent was actually Worlds greatest Dad! (thought it was Dad of the year, an easy mistake to make eh!) Oops! Watch it for Christopher Walken's performance and if you're a Robin Williams fan (he is quite funny here) but certainly don't rush to go see it.
Spencer S

I believe they made to make this something of a cross between a thriller and a comedy, but it's just lacking, and abysmally strange.
KJ P

Some parts are none stop hilarity! After a while it get's very boring, and scary! Does not work too well! But I still like it!
danny d

very good because it raises interesting questions. more serious of a movie than the previews made it look, but it was very funny and robin williams was incredible.
Conner R

It was a disturbing blend of comedy and a thriller about government conspiracy cover-ups. Robin Williams and Laura Linney were decent, but it wasn't either's best efforts. The story was the true downfall of this movie, completely changing out of left field. It would've… More
It was a disturbing blend of comedy and a thriller about government conspiracy cover-ups. Robin Williams and Laura Linney were decent, but it wasn't either's best efforts. The story was the true downfall of this movie, completely changing out of left field. It would've been best if they had just stuck with one genre.
Cassandra M

#11 Man Of The Year On a lark, this late-night talk show host decides to run for office. Amazingly, he gets elected. Williams, in all his looniness, comes across as a likable guy. It?s always a pleasure to see stuffed-shirt posturing lose out to common sense in a debate. President… More
#11 Man Of The Year On a lark, this late-night talk show host decides to run for office. Amazingly, he gets elected. Williams, in all his looniness, comes across as a likable guy. It?s always a pleasure to see stuffed-shirt posturing lose out to common sense in a debate. President Speak: "Politicians are a lot like diapers. They should be changed frequently, and for the same reason."
Red L

An OK movie. It is too bad American politics is not like this - where a straight talking guy can actually win the presidential race.
Bobby H

The show was not bad. Robin Williams, Christopher Walken, and Lewis Black are the only things that keep it that way though. There great acting comedy roles, saves the movie from being a total bore. Otherwise, what presented it self as a comedy turned more into a drama about messed up… More
The show was not bad. Robin Williams, Christopher Walken, and Lewis Black are the only things that keep it that way though. There great acting comedy roles, saves the movie from being a total bore. Otherwise, what presented it self as a comedy turned more into a drama about messed up election counts. Good for polititians, but, not so good for anyone who does not like almost pure Dialogue. (Its seriously the only thing that is funny in this movie). I might be wrong, but im willing to bet the people behind the creation of this movie was all from the democratic party.
Daniel J D

A lot better than I expected. Much funnier, for sure.
Craig S

Directed by: Barry Levinson. Starring: Robin Williams, Christopher Walken, Laura Linney, Jeff Goldblum. Lets stat a few things first....before this film was released, everyone saw the film as comedy because… More
Directed by: Barry Levinson. Starring: Robin Williams, Christopher Walken, Laura Linney, Jeff Goldblum. Lets stat a few things first....before this film was released, everyone saw the film as comedy because of the way it was marketed....once the film was released, it was mistreated by a lot of critics and viewers saying how the film had 'false advertising', now I will agree to some extent that yes, that is true but is the world truly still that stupid? People should know that trailers are made by completely different people to the filmmakers, hense why there are great movies out there with bad trailers and vice versa, so it should be obvious now that you should not judge a movie by its trailer.....but also false advertising is everywhere in the world and you don't see anyone moaning about that.....weight loss machines that say "Lose 10 pounds in days", toothpaste ads saying that there product WILL make your teeth whiter compared to 'other products'. So you can just see how stupid the world really is, when they moan about a film being false advertised, yet they will buy these other products, find out there false and then.....not complain. Now that my point is across, down to my review (SOME MINOR SPOILERS)... I did go into this film with an open mind, due to everything I just said and I came out more then satisfied and very surprised. Now I will stat the bad things first....there are some flaws in the story, one example is how is it that a billion+ people in the world didn't see a possible glitch with the final polling results and only one person did? And also the film does try to aim for many genres and as a whole can be seen as a bit 'genre confused'.....but no one can deny that all this sections of the film are actually brilliant. Barry Levinson, although I have only seen his recent crap and not his old classics, he surprised me here and showed that he is back in form, he covers romance, political drama, thriller and comedy very well, aside from the romantic sub-plot, the political ideas covered are extremely thoughtful, well written and very true, the thrills keep you slightly on the edge of your seat during the second quarter and the comedy is sharp, full of charm and very funny....and the latter is all thanks to Robin Williams. Not since Mrs Doubtfire has he been at his very best....to be honest, I think it was his best, with some of the humour obviously being improvised and full of charm and sharp wit.....and truth. To me, the film succeeded all my expectations, there are some flaws with the story and also.......well read the top half of my review and you'll know my other thoughts. Underrated.
Michael G

Just kind of an average and unremarkable movie. Robin Williams just generally acts like himself. I laughed a few times, but that was about it. Williams, Black and Walken (who has very little credibility to coast on, by the way) just showed up for the paychecks I'm sure. Jeff… More
Just kind of an average and unremarkable movie. Robin Williams just generally acts like himself. I laughed a few times, but that was about it. Williams, Black and Walken (who has very little credibility to coast on, by the way) just showed up for the paychecks I'm sure. Jeff Goldblum was either godawful or grossly underused--I can't decide which. But one thing I will say for Man of the Year is that it wasn't what I was expecting. Okay, it was for the most part, but the whole Laura Linney storyline came from out of left field. Don't go out of your way to see it and you shouldn't be TOO disappointed. (Oh, and I'm giving it 2 as opposed to 3 stars because Tina Fey and Amy Poehler showed up towards the end. They could've shown up in Battlefield Earth and I'd be happy. But that's just me...)
Daniel P

Much better than people give it credit for. As in Williams and Levinson's first movie together (Good Morning Vietnam), most of Williams's comedy is unscripted.
Jose Z

A very good film with an interesting story and a well developed plot. Great cast Robin Williams at his best, the way he makes comedy is unique and in this movie the way he mocks the political issues happening nowadays is excellent, Christopher Walken is also very good, he is one of… More
A very good film with an interesting story and a well developed plot. Great cast Robin Williams at his best, the way he makes comedy is unique and in this movie the way he mocks the political issues happening nowadays is excellent, Christopher Walken is also very good, he is one of the best actors of the present, Laura Linney delivers a good performance and Jeff Goldblum with a secundary role but very convincing and important to the story.
Jason S

This was a good movie but it was poorly marketed. It's not really a comedy like the studio would have you belive. It's more drama with a few funny statements. I think most people will watch it and be a little disappointed, not because it was a bad movie, because it… More
This was a good movie but it was poorly marketed. It's not really a comedy like the studio would have you belive. It's more drama with a few funny statements. I think most people will watch it and be a little disappointed, not because it was a bad movie, because it wasn't what they sat down to watch.
Tom E

VERY funny!
Morgan S

funny did he make this before or after rehab?
Aaron N

When I first saw the trailer for this, I was pretty sure that it was given it's comical tone appealing to mass audiences, only to find that it would be much smarter than it looked upon viewing it. I was right to an extent. Robin Williams and Barry Levinson can both make smart… More
When I first saw the trailer for this, I was pretty sure that it was given it's comical tone appealing to mass audiences, only to find that it would be much smarter than it looked upon viewing it. I was right to an extent. Robin Williams and Barry Levinson can both make smart movies, they have before with Good Morning Vietnam, which was funny and had a good story to back it up. Levinson also made the political satire Wag the Dog, which is a much better movie. Here the problem relies in it's tone. For some reason it has this side plot that drains the movie of it's humor. It involves Jeff Goldblum talking in a fast, nonsensicle terms. Robin Williams does what he can, but a lot of the jokes fall flat. It's got Chris Walken, but he's not given enough to do, besides narrate and give fatherly advice to Williams. Lewis Black probably does the best at balancing both tones of the movies, but nothing really comes together or gels right in the end.
Mike N

My doom lay ahead in another battle, this time against the amiable [b]Chairman Meow[/b]. Even being as utterly cool as I am might not be enough, for many of my disciples have migrated to greener-pixelated electric pastures. Go, spread word of my (as LROR puts it) awesometacularness,… More
My doom lay ahead in another battle, this time against the amiable [b]Chairman Meow[/b]. Even being as utterly cool as I am might not be enough, for many of my disciples have migrated to greener-pixelated electric pastures. Go, spread word of my (as LROR puts it) awesometacularness, and vote neumdaddy. Be courageous, and stand up for what is noble and right. Pies for all! [url="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/vine/showthread.php?t=548151"]http://www.rottentomatoes.com/vine/showthread.php?t=548151[/url] (PS.- I'm back Stateside, but not for long!)