How sad is this?

Disturbing yet enthralling

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

I saw this movie on DVD after buying with absolutely no knowledge of the film at all. I only bought it because Robin Williams was the star. I wasn't disappointed at all. This is a great satire on modern politics. Robin Williams character seems to say what everyone thinks - that modern politicians are in the back pocket of special interest groups. There are a couple of plot holes here - like how a computer system is fooled by such a very simple loophole - but that just serves as a way to move the story along. Williams is excellent here as both a comedian and a serious actor. I have always thought he is equally good at both and such a great talent. His character is very believable. I would recommend this film to anyone who likes a movie with some thought put into it.

Talk about deceptive advertising. While the trailers for this movie sold it as a political comedy, the tone of it is actually more serious and includes elements of romance and thrillers. Sadly, the results are less than compelling and rather stale. In MAN OF THE YEAR Robin Williams plays Tom Dobbs, a political comedian like Jon Stewart or Stephen Colbert, who decides to run for president on the suggestion of one of his audience members (which gets an applause and millions of emails). Venturing onto the campaign trail, he shakes things up by not following the norm when it comes to political conduct and being honest about the issues without beating around the bush. Subsequently, he wins in a landslide. Or did he? While there are elements of Robin's standup peppered through the film, the central conflict is actually about computerized voting machines. How riveting. You would think that Robin Williams re-teaming with Barry Levinson, who directed him in "Good Morning, Vietnam" and has done some excellent political satire in the past (e.g., WAG THE DOG), would be a slam-dunk but it's far from that. At best, it's poorly written with lots of tired jokes and half-hearted attempts at humor. At worst, it's a dull story that tries to liven things up but just makes a mess out of the plot. Still, all the actors involved do give good performances. Robin Williams, even though on autopilot, does decent work. Christopher Walken and Laura Linney also do a decent job. Pity that they were given something sub-par to work with. Ultimately, this film fails to say anything that a majority of Americans aren't already thinking, and the possibilities of a political comedian actually winning an election aren't fully explored. While well-filmed and acted, the story was too inconsistent and the themes underdeveloped. My advice is to skip it and watch one of Robin Williams' standup specials.

Robin Williams play's a radio talk show host ala Bill Maher let's say , and he polks fun at our Presidential race and all of the canidates,, he has a lot of opinions, and someone suggests that he should run,, now he knows he isn't gonna win ,, but he figures hey what the hay why not,, so he enters the race,, does some campaigning,, led by his manager, Christoper Walken, also in the movie is Jeff Goldblum,, and Laura Linney. Due to a malfunction in the new touch screen voting system that they are using for the first time,, he somehow wins the Presidency of the United States,, he is sworn in and now officially on duty at the White House,, a woman who works for the touch screen company DelaCroy finds out that there was a glitch in the system,, and that our President is well, kinda not our President after all,, well the company doesn't want the matter out to the public that there was a glitch, and the wrong man is in the oval office, and they will stop at nothing to stop her from leaking this,, she then makes a decision to tell the President what is going on.

Over the past couple of years, Robin Williams has played a variety of roles that have been outside of his spectrum. He's played roles that were either dark, disturbing, but to me didn't sit very well for that matter. Let's face it, comedy is in his veins and though his intentions to break from type-casting is okay to some extent, but his heart is really in comedy and his more better roles are in the comedic spectrum. In "Man of the Year" Williams has the opportunity to exhibit his versatility as both a comedic actor and could also tackle some of the more serious issues in the movie quite compellingly. Sure Williams looks a little odd sporting a Bicentennial wig and dressed like he's about to star in the musical, "1776", but don't let this poster fool anyone. There is a lot of realism about the happenings in our political system which can be easily used as manipulative force for an exhilarating exhibition of comical writing.Robin Williams stars as Tom Dobbs who hosts a political talk show much in the tradition like Bill Maher. When an audience member suggests that he runs for President, Dobbs feels obligated in doing it even though his manager Jack Menken (Christopher Walken) and his writer Eddie Langston (Lewis Black) are a bit uncomfortable with his decision. Dobbs is at his wits end with the government overrunning civilians who have to pay off these sycophants just ease their way into Presidency and these high-empowered bigwigs who promise they'll help the lower classes get back on track, when really they're just using their wealth for themselves for their own purposes. Granted Dobbs can be a capable individual to run the White House as anybody would and the public media seem to have his support. As a member of the Independent Party competing with both the Republicans and the Democrats and emerges victorious with a flawless victory.Like all good things, there are few obstacles that are in the way of Dobbs' glory. A new computerized voting apparatus is programmed by programmer Alan Stewart (Jeff Goldblum) and his assistants Eleanor Green (Laura Linney) and Danny (David Alpay). Eleanor uncovers a bug in the computer system that claims that Dobbs never actually won the election and now she has the reluctant task of telling Dobbs the truth and how he and staff will react to it. The direction of the way the film progresses, you just want to support Dobbs all the way and let him keep his job as the President.The casting was very uplifting the juxtaposition between comedy and political satire handled by director/writer Barry Levinson deserves a standing ovation and I think if a person has enough time, they should see this movie for themselves. It's not only rich in comedy but has a serious back story of how the political system operates in the United States and Robin Williams demonstrates that he can still play funny man with a serious outlook coming against the corruption that bestows upon the political community. Also Laura Linney was dynamic in her role as she never ceases to amaze me.