THE STORY: Tom Dobbs (Robin Williams) is a popular guy. And a little controversial. He’s the host of a satirical political show who takes jabs at the issues (clearly based on the success of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart). Taking to heart an audience suggestion that he run for president – after a number of polls show he has plenty of support – he tosses his hat into the ring and after a rollercoaster campaign, finds himself elected to the highest office in the land. It seems the people really do want change. Or do they? Was his election an actual two-party upheaval that signals a massive tidal shift in politics … or just a glitch?
Director: Barry Levinson
Writer: Barry Levinson
Stars: Robin Williams, Laura Linney, Lewis Black, Christopher Walken, Jeff Goldblum, Tina Fey
THE RUNDOWN: Man of the Year is a film you really want to like. It’s got Robin Williams for goodness sake … running for president. Not only that, but Barry Levinson – the guy behind Rain Man and Good Morning, Vietnam – writes and directs, making this seem like a can’t miss win. The problem is, despite plenty good about it, the movie isn’t content with just political satire, which is where it really ought to have stayed. Instead, it jumps tracks and becomes a film about political conspiracy, which leaves Williams toothless in the second half, putting all the weight on the drama rather than the bite of political comedy. It’s a tragic misfire that had Williams in perfect position to make some bold statements about the trajectory of modern political elections (the latest being a perfect example), but undercut him right when it starts to get good. Either way, Williams does well with what he can but best of all it features a terrific performance from Laura Linney, who does some seriously good work as a woman trapped with a secret she never should have seen.
Since the film takes a more conspiratorial approach than straight-up satire, it’s Laura Linney who steals the show, with a sensational performance that gets lost in the misdirection.
It doesn’t pay off on the promise of its premise, failing to make the most of having a comedian in the White House, completely avoiding the best opportunity for a real take down.
THAT MOMENT: At first, Dobbs doesn’t really take the whole thing too seriously, but when he ends up on the ballot of thirteen key states, begins to change his tune, believing he’s got a real chance to have some impact. As such, he switches his voice from biting satire to legit man of the people, something his manager, Jack Menken (Christopher Walken), and his show’s producer, Eddie Langston (Lewis Black) take issue with, thinking that it’s the wrong approach. They want him to light things up, thinking that this run is the opportunity to completely knock the system off its rails.
Behind the scenes, a tech company called Delacroy, run by an executive named Stewart (Jeff Goldblum) has won the bid to provide new, state of the art computer voting for the election, something that is meant to dismiss any chance of fraud made famously possible in the wake of the ‘hanging chad’ debacle of previous elections. Working for the company is a programmer named Eleanor Green (Linney), who has discovered an error in the system that after numerous tests, proves is not failsafe. She brings it to the attention of Stewart – who is raking in millions off the deal – predicting the outcome of the next election, but is quickly hushed, and then much, much worse.
Meanwhile, Dobbs continues his stumping and earns enough steam to get invited to the national debate, facing off against sitting President Kellogg (David Nichols) and challenger Senator Mills (David Ferry). (Just an aside here … I think it’s kind of funny how both candidates are subtly and satirically named after breakfast cereal companies Kelloggs and General Mills). Menken and Langston plead with Dobbs to use this platform to make a stand, but Dobbs thinks it’s better to keep avoiding his television persona and stick to rehashing the issues, something that left most audiences rather unmotivated.
Alas, once on stage though, after listening to the candidates shell out platitudes and safe answers, Dobbs realizes he’s had enough and remembers why he got into this thing in the first place. He then breaks from protocol and goes on a blistering rant that sees the debate structure wholly fall apart as he runs the stage like a bitter comic.
WHY IT MATTERS: Right here is where Man of the Year should have stayed and is exactly the starting point when the wheels came off the bus since it’s right after this great sequence where the film decides to stick to its conspiracy rather than its politics. Still early in the movie, the debate is a lengthy takedown of the process with Dobbs thoroughly eviscerating the other candidates and the staid method for how democratic elections in the country have becomes sideshows rather than the chance for real change.
Levinson plays out most of the debate by only showing the three men and the moderator Faith Daniels (playing herself) through monitors, keeping it sort of a commercial experience, the idea that it’s a carefully created and controlled illusion the point we should be making. The three candidates are robotic and unmoving, keeping their polite positions on their marks as they offer their well-rehearsed remarks. Then, when the debate shifts to homeland security, something that in 2006 was still very much on people’s minds as a wave of new procedures and polices following 9/11 were making huge changes in how we leave and re-enter our country, Dobbs slips out from under his campaign persona and decides to make it a show. When it’s his turn to speak, he adopts a more comedic yet satirical tone, sounding more like his show host self than a presidential candidate, the audience responds. This prompts him to take a step out from behind the lectern (causing a chorus of gasps), and then fully onto the stage where he paces about doing a powerfully insightful yet vicious shakedown of party politics.
As Dobbs bounces about the platform, ignoring the moderator and the other candidates, who all grow increasingly frustrated, he abandons all the rules, taking jabs at the hypocrisy of not just a debate style that doesn’t allow for real answers, but the system itself that is rife with corruption. As chaos erupts in the control room and the players on stage seem entirely unsure what to do, Daniels tells him to stop making a mockery of the process, to which Dobbs replies with a shot that brings the house down, inspiring a standing ovation. It’s off to the races.
This moment sets the stage for what should have been a sharp follow up where Dobbs then wins the presidency and must come face to face with the very issues he raises. However, this doesn’t happen, though I won’t spoil what does. Either way, no matter where the film goes, this debate is supremely well shot and edited as Levinson keeps us going back and forth between what’s happening on stage and the reaction of his time behind the curtain.
This tennis match effect works strikingly well, building enormous momentum as Dobbs picks up steam, his rebellious actions a decidedly risky maneuver that he was initially too afraid to make but now seems exactly the right one to be making. Watching the film, you can’t help but get behind this as Levinson creates a sensational moment of what seems like raw untapped exasperation, something he did so well with Williams 19 years earlier in Good Morning, Vietnam, allowing the comedian to run amok as it were with the material, earning the actor high praise for the effort, including an Oscar nom.
Man of the Year has aged sort of well despite its flaws and taken as a dark conspiracy tale rather than a comedy is actually not so bad. Linney is really the whole show, her work some of her best, which is too bad as the film is pretty much lost to obscurity. It’s worth a look for her alone but also this great early moment during a presidential debate when a comedian decides he’s had enough.