Shout! Factory
Robin Williams was an utterly fascinating individual. I recently re-watched his early pre-Mork TV appearances on the second iteration of Laugh-In.
I remember watching that series when it originally aired in 1977-78 and I never would have pegged him as a future major film star. He didn’t even stand out to me on Laugh-In!
Yet a major film star is what he became.
His insane, over-the-top stand-up routines eventually gave way to some brilliant screen performances in movies such as Good Morning Vietnam, The Dead Poets’ Society, The Fisher King, and Patch Adams. Can’t forget the Genie in Disney’s Aladdin, either!
But, like every other major film star, not everything Robin touched turned to gold. Just by virtue of the fact that he worked regularly, there ended up being more duds in his filmography than there were hits. Barry Levinson’s Man of the Year, from 2006, was one of the duds.
Director Levinson had previously worked with Robin on Good Morning Vietnam (hit) and Toys (dud) so hopes were high. Robin, as he often did in his later appearances, seems subdued. Even in the scenes where he plays a comedic late-night talk show host, he just doesn’t seem like the old Energizer Bunny™ version of Williams, even though the role seems to call for that.
Like Jimmy Kimmel, Stephen Colbert, and Seth Myers these days, Robin’s Tom Dobbs tended to get political. At one point, in an election year, he begins—like Pat Paulsen before him—a faux campaign for President of the United States. In this case, though, he wins—an unqualified TV show host. Since he isn’t particularly radical, despite all of his talk of red and blue states, border issues, and health care, he isn’t presaging Tr*mp, who wasn’t even yet on the political radar. This was still the “W” administration
If anything, Man of the Year predicts Ukraine’s President Zelensky, who played a President on a comedic television series before getting chosen to be one in real life.
The problem is that Dobbs isn’t really the US President-Elect at all. Turns out there was a glitch with the fancy new electronic voting machines. Laura Linney plays a woman who catches the problem in time but the men behind the voting system—Rick Roberts and Jeff Goldblum (in a totally wasted performance)—would lose millions if it gets out so they have to stop her from revealing the truth, either publicly or to Dobbs.
Linney gives the best performance, although Christopher Walken as Dobbs’ wheelchaired manager is quite appealing in a rare non villainous role.
Scriptwise, the plot doesn’t make much sense and the reason the glitch makes Dobbs president would seem to forget all about the actual electoral college system. Dobbs’ immediate attraction to Linney’s character seems unrealistic, as does his sudden obsession with her. Just so much of the movie couldn’t happen the way it does if this were the real world. But then, isn’t that what we say about so much of the stuff that HAS happened in recent years in politics here in the real world? And yet, here we are.
Cameos from Chris Matthews, Faith Daniels, James Carville, and then-SNL anchors Tina Fey and Amy Poehler lend another level of seeming reality to Man of the Year but in the end, none of it helps much.
Robin Williams has long-since plateaued as an A-lister, and, as such, every one of his projects—particularly his starring vehicles—are worthy of scrutiny. Man of the Year has its moments and is enjoyable in spots, but Robin was having an off-day nearly every day when he made this one.
Much like the politics right outside our window here in 2024, I really can’t recommend Man of the Year.
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