Sigh. Man of the Year Shredded by Critics

[Coffee Warlord]

Apparently, it's not a comedy.

It's a cheesy conspiracy theory/thriller with Robin Williams in the background cracking about 15 minutes worth of jokes.

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/man_of_the_year/

[stevew]

Man, as a comedy, it looked kind of promising. At least on DVD.

[rkmsuf]

I think Robin Williams is just about over. He had a good run but Vegas is calling.

[Honolulu_Blue]

I think Robin Williams is just about over. He had a good run but Vegas is calling.

His run has been over for quite some time. I really haven't been able to stomach the man (outside an exception or two) since his run of smugness in films like "Patch Adams" and "Jacob The Liar" and "Bicentennial Man".

[ISiddiqui]

What a miscalculation! As a comedy, it can work, and get decent reviews and make $100 million. As a conspiracy/thriller? Ugh...

[Ksyrup]

I still like him, but I can't say I've seen a movie of his since Good WIll Hunting.

Was RV as bad as it looked?

[Buccaneer]

He's still my very favorite and do like him in some of the small-budget dramas (Final Cut, Night Listener, Insomnia) but the comedies need to be straight up, like in GMV or Alladin. His comic acts and instincts are pure genious, imo, as evident with his Inside the Actor's Studio appearance.

I just read this about Man of the Year


LOS ANGELES, California (Reuters) -- To hear comedian Robin Williams tell it, politics as usual in the United States is no laughing matter, even if he makes a lot of jokes about it in his new movie "Man of the Year."
"This is not about one party or another. This is about how the whole system sucks," Williams told reporters.
He criticized the influence of special interest groups, the millions of dollars needed to campaign for office and the negative advertisements candidates use to hurt their rivals.
Director Barry Levinson's satirical "Man of the Year" hits theaters on Friday, aiming to tap into voter disenchantment ahead of the November U.S. election with a story about an acerbic talk show host, played by Williams, who runs for president.
Williams teamed with Levinson for 1987's anti-war film "Good Morning Vietnam," and it earned the comedian an Oscar nomination for acting. This time around the pair is trying to shed light on a political system the two believe is deeply flawed.
Levinson has been down this road before with 1997 political satire "Wag the Dog," about how a Hollywood producer and a Washington public relations expert concoct a fake war to cover up a presidential sex scandal. During the term of President Bill Clinton, that story sounded all too familiar.
" 'Wag the Dog' was made in a more innocent time and a less cynical time," Levinson said. "We are in a much darker period, a much more cynical period, therefore you have to find a movie that is going to work in another time."
In "Man of the Year," Williams portrays political commentator Tom Dobbs who runs for president as an independent candidate in an election that is marred by a glitch in computerized voting. Sound familiar?
Not only are marred vote counts a fact of presidential campaigns, but a celebrity running for office is nothing new. There is, after all, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, and fans of Jon Stewart and Oprah Winfrey are printing T-shirts and running Web sites to draft them for president in 2008.
Williams might make a good candidate, although he says he is not interested. He is beloved by fans who remember him in movie roles such as the divorced father who dresses as a nanny to be near his kids in "Mrs. Doubtfire."
Moreover, there is a serious side to him that has shown through in recent years in dramas such as 1997's "Good Will Hunting," for which he won an Oscar.
In "Man of the Year," Williams' fans see both the old comic satirically ripping the U.S. system and the new dramatic actor who has a rather simple message for lawmakers: Tell the truth.
Yet, the star said being a real-world public servant is not on his agenda, and he wondered how his past drug and alcohol use, which as recently as August landed him in rehabilitation, would sound in those nasty campaign ads.
He considered what might have happened to Thomas Jefferson -- the principal author of the Declaration of Independence, third U.S. president and ambassador to France -- if he had been forced to publicly acknowledge an affair with black slave Sally Hemings.
"You might be extremely qualified, but if your life isn't squeaky clean, you can't be president," he said. "If you applied the same moral standards to most of the presidents we've had, they wouldn't even be nominated."
Then, the serious Williams turned funny. "Mr. Jefferson, you've got a call on line 2," he said, then changed his voice to mimick Hemings: "I told you, I wouldn't wait in Paris...You said I'd be first lady."
The reporters laughed but to Williams, it was no joke.


and thought that sounded interesting (an even-handed satire of the political process). Didn't realize the movie was a thriller.

[samifan24]

I also did not realize this movie is intended as a thriller. I've seen the trailer a couple of times already and thought it was a straight comedy.

[rkmsuf]

I also did not realize this movie is intended as a thriller. I've seen the trailer a couple of times already and thought it was a straight comedy.

That's because Robin Williams is so madcap. You assume hijinks will ensue.

[stevew]

Sorta Spoiler.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
..
.
..
Apparently the "Thriller" elements have to do with a "Voting Machine Malfunction" that Laura Linney knows about and is trying to bring to light. Supposedly a canidate with "bb" in his name screws up the methodology of the vote counting mechanism.

This is not a major spoiler since it was in a review, but I'll put the space in to be nice.

And Skydog needs to get that hack installed here..I'll pm simms to see if he can maybe install it or something.

[dervack]

Actually, to be able to make your post hidden would be great instead, and people would have to click on it to unhide it.

[stevew]

Actually, to be able to make your post hidden would be great instead, and people would have to click on it to unhide it.

yeah, that's the "spoiler" hack I've seen on other boards.

[Anthony]

on RottenTomatoe it's listed as a Comedy/Satire. while it may not be the full blown comedy many were expecting, it's not like it's trying to get people to go see what they think will be a comedy and then SURPRISE! they will in turn see a thriller. there just won't be as many yuck yuck jokes as the trailer implies. i still won't go see it, but you guys are taking this to the extreme.

the thing with Robin Williams is he's a good actor, but comedy wise his whole schtick involves talking so fast that you assume somewhere in there something funny is being said.

[sachmo71]

the thing with Robin Williams is he's a good actor, but comedy wise his whole schtick involves talking so fast that you assume somewhere in there something funny is being said.

I will disagree with this. IMO, Robin Williams is one of the best standup comedians ever, and still is judging from his last HBO special.

[SnDvls]

I still like him, but I can't say I've seen a movie of his since Good WIll Hunting.

Was RV as bad as it looked?

yes it was bad
take every sterotype about RVers and renting an RV and you got the whole movie with some cheese thrown in about his job.

[sachmo71]

I don't even know one rv stereotype. Can you fill me in?

[JonInMiddleGA]

Was RV as bad as it looked?

YMMV, but I'd say no. But then again, I didn't think it looked all that bad in the first place.

It certainly wasn't the most intelligent comedy in history, but there were some reasonably good slapstick moments and it turned out to be entertaining for me, my wife, and our 8 y/o. Was worth the price of admission (as well as the time it took to watch it), which isn't something I say about all that many movies.

[Coop]

They are doing a horrible job at advertising if it's not a comedy. Plus it has Christopher Walken in it, he's funny in anything ;P

[PackerFanatic]

They are doing a horrible job at advertising if it's not a comedy. Plus it has Christopher Walken in it, he's funny in anything ;P

Totally agreed. They are selling it as a comedy, that is what I expect to see when I see it (which I still will)

I still love Robin Williams, always will, still my 2nd fav. behind Jim Carrey :)

[Qwikshot]

It's probably in the "Wag the Dog" vein.