Release Date: 8 March 2007

Synopsis :

What would happen if one of the nation's funniest men became its leading one? Oscar® winner Robin Williams reunites with the director of "Good Morning, Vietnam" to answer just that question in the comic tale of an entertainer's accidental rise to power, "Man of the Year."

Acerbic performer Tom Dobbs (Robin Williams) has made his career out of skewering politicians and speaking the mind of the exasperated nation on his talk show. He cracked scathing jokes at a fractured system night after night...until he came up with a really funny idea: why not run for president himself?

After a flip comment, Dobbs ignites a grassroots movement that puts him on the ballot. Hot on the campaign trail, he debates elected drones and says exactly what frustrated voters have often thought. Nov. 2nd later, the muckraker wins--only to learn that a computer voting error gave him the victory. With time ticking on the inaugural clock, Dobbs has a big decision to make: should he go back behind the mike or stay in the Oval Office?

Movie Review:

Would you elect a political comedian to be the next president of your country?

I doubt you would, unless we’re talking about Tom Dobbs (Robin Williams). A comedian armed with an incredibly sharp wit and stark honesty, he brings his questions and points across not as a politician, but rather as a well-informed ordinary American citizen. No doubt giving the other political candidates a damn good run for their money, using his clever comedy jokes to addresses valid and serious issues that would make you think thrice about the things that are going on in this world currently.

Don’t be fooled by the misleading trailer for this one though, because this isn’t just another Robin Williams starring ha-ha-ha type comedy. Written and directed by Barry Levinson, whose previous works include Rain Man and Good Morning Vietnam, it may appear to be a political comedy, but it’s really also a part thriller and part drama flick.

Thanks to one particular fan who makes a suggestion that he should run for president during one of his live shows, millions of people start petitioning on the web for Dobbs to run for presidency. In a few weeks, Dobbs decides to really go for it and that is where this movie really starts getting interesting. This is the funny half of the movie.

In the meantime, on the other half, the thriller part of it, we see that there is a newly launched nationwide electronic voting system promising to ease confusion and save time for everyone. While the company gets rich and richer thanks to this program, Eleanor Green (Laura Linney), the analyst who developed the system, finds a glitch in the system. She tries to warn the CEO, but he has other ideas of dealing with the problem.

Robin Williams is perfect for this role and you could tell the man was on fire playing opinionated TV show, Comedy News political comedian Tom Dobbs. Think the energizer bunny version of John Stewart, with depth, heart and intelligence that makes his character very engaging. Christopher Walken is very good as well, and so is Laura Linney as the tormented IT expert with a conscious.

Moving back and forth between comedy and thriller scenes, the less than predictable twists and turns in the plot keeps things engaging. But the film could have done better focusing more on the Dobbs half of the movie. With more laughs and less drama, it would’ve made it more realistic and appealing to a wider audience, especially those who believe that this is a full-scale comedy. With the former realism factor, lets just say that it’s hard to believe that the American government would invest and trust a company to develop a computerized voting system without even testing the program themselves.

With that being said, it doesn’t mean that this movie is bad. In fact, it’s not bad, if you can accept that it’s a political comedy and thriller/drama.

Movie Rating:

(A somewhat satisfying movie, watch it if you’re a Robin William fan, and don’t mind the whole comedy/thriller mix of genres)

Review by Jolene Tan