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a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

Man of the Year (2006): Dir: Barry Livinson / Cast: Robin Williams, Christopher Walken, Laura Linney, Jeff Goldblum, Lewis Black: Provocative film about the influence of celebrity. Robin Williams plays talk show host Tom Dobbs whose humour targets politicians. One evening he is challenged by his audience to run for President. At first he jokes about it until floods of e-mails arrive to boost the encouragement. He shocks everyone with his campaign and debates not realizing that it is a computer glitch that causes his victory. Thought provoking and well written with Barry Levinson directing. He made a similar film called Wag the Dog, which is superior in its satire approach. Its biggest flaw is its inability to combine humour and thriller elements. Williams seems the right casting as someone who cannot realize that forest for the trees in an election such as this. Christopher Walken plays his manager who survives heart failure. Laura Linney steals scenes and tries to warn Dobbs of the glitch. Jeff Goldblum plays the head of the computer system voting program but this role is merely standard issue and not very interesting. It is a collection of actors from different backgrounds and abilities that sometimes gel and sometimes fail to do so. The film is well made although hardly the best of its kind. Strong theme regards our unfocused worship of celebrities. Score: 8 ½ / 10

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.

I love Robin Williams and would be disposed to look favourably upon any film he stars in - especially if it's a comedy. And the president slash comedian role in "Man of the Year" seemed to fit him perfectly.What I struggled with in this film - badly - is the credibility of the story at numerous junctures:a software to simply count votes - how hard that can be? I can believe in viruses, in some evil mastermind trying to rig the voting, but in the simplest programme getting it wrong?! - blah.a man in his 50s meets a woman once, they hardly exchange a word, but he is utterly smitten with her and gives her his private mobile number, calls her ex employer and would jump at meeting her the moment she calls. And he has just become the most powerful man on the planet. Love conquers all in the Hollywood model, but even so... really?!the presidential candidate and then the president elect has a mobile phone which he answers at all times, even in the Oval Office while formally in a formal meeting with the outgoing president?! An assistant might provide some much needed help - he should consider it.the president elect has to choose 14,000 new employees, and he goes paintballing with his entire campaign staff?! - and so on.A good film might have one idea which is far-fetched, but then everything falls into place (we don't really believe an extra-terrestrial will end up in a small boy's wardrobe, but after that, all the other elements, the continuation and the human story behind click into place seamlessly, so we can ignore the initial lack of plot credibility). This film just piles incredible on implausible, it didn't do it for me.

The premise of this movie, of a comedian talk show host running for president as an independent just to shake things up, is funny, entertaining, brilliant and even a bit inspiring. (thought about the west wing debate when Tom Dobbs leaves his podium, thought about Steven Colbert announcing his candidacy, good times) The first 15 - 20 minutes of this movie are therefore very very entertaining, the debate especially. When he eventually get's elected, it's a pity that is because of a computer glitch, you'd want him to win fair (although that is unrealistic).But after that this movie goes completely downhill. I thought we'd get a great movie like 'Dave' (1993) in which we see how it would out if a comedian actually ran the country. Instead, the movie turns from comedy into a thriller, a romantic comedy and a drama and does none good. The computer glitch becomes the main storyline, which really sucks. Boy is this disappointing. I give it 3 stars just for the premise and because I actually managed to watch this movie from start to end without stopping it, which is usually a good thing with me.