''Man of the Year'' is a 2006 American
political satire
Political satire is satire that specializes in gaining entertainment from politics; it has also been used with subversive intent where Political discourse analysis, political speech and dissent are forbidden by a regime, as a method of advancing ...
film directed and written by
Barry Levinson
Barry Lee Levinson (born April 6, 1942) is an American filmmaker, comedian and actor. Levinson's best-known works are mid-budget comedy drama and drama films such as '' Diner'' (1982); ''The Natural'' (1984); ''Good Morning, Vietnam'' (1987); ' ...
, produced by
James G. Robinson
Morgan Creek Entertainment is an American film production company that has released box-office hits including ''Young Guns (film), Young Guns'', ''Dead Ringers (film), Dead Ringers'', ''Major League (film), Major League'', ''True Romance'', ''Ace ...
, and starring
Robin Williams
Robin McLaurin Williams (July 21, 1951August 11, 2014) was an American actor and comedian. Known for his improvisational skills and the wide variety of characters he created on the spur of the moment and portrayed on film, in dramas and come ...
. The film also features
Christopher Walken
Christopher Walken (born Ronald Walken; March 31, 1943) is an American actor. Prolific in film, television and on stage, Walken is the recipient of numerous accolades including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Awar ...
,
Laura Linney
Laura Leggett Linney (born February 5, 1964) is an American actress. Having studied acting at Juilliard School (1986-1990), she became known for her complex and multilayered performances on stage and screen. She has received various accolades, ...
,
Lewis Black
Lewis Niles Black (born August 30, 1948) is an American stand-up comedian and actor. His comedy routines often escalate into angry rants about history, politics, religion, or any other cultural trends.
He hosted the Comedy Central series ''Lewis ...
, and
Jeff Goldblum
Jeffrey Lynn Goldblum (; born October 22, 1952) is an American actor and musician. He has starred in some of the highest-grossing films of his era, such as ''Jurassic Park'' (1993) and '' Independence Day'' (1996), as well as their sequels.
...
. In the film Williams portrays Tom Dobbs, the host of a comedy/political talk show, based loosely on the real-life persona of
Jon Stewart
Jon Stewart (born Jonathan Stuart Leibowitz; November 28, 1962) is an American comedian, political commentator, and television host. He hosted ''The Daily Show'', a satirical news program on Comedy Central, from 1999 to 2015 and now hosts ''Th ...
. With an offhand remark, he prompts four million people to e-mail their support; then he decides to campaign for
President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
*President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
. The film was released theatrically on October 13, 2006, and was filmed in
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
and
Hamilton, Ontario
Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Hamilton has a population of 569,353, and its census metropolitan area, which includes Burlington and Grimsby, has a population of 785,184. The city is approximately southwest of T ...
, and in parts of
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
''Man of the Year'' received mostly negative reviews and earned $41.2 million on a $20 million budget.
Plot
Tom Dobbs is host of a
satirical news program, tapping into public frustrations with divisive,
special interest-driven politics. Dobbs laughs off an audience suggestion that he run for president, but following online support, he announces his campaign on air. He gets on the ballot in 13 states and participates in a national debate with the
Democratic incumbent, President Kellogg, and
Republican
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
candidate Senator Mills.
Eleanor Green works at the Delacroy voting machine company, which will provide machines for the Presidential election. Shortly before the elections, Eleanor notices that the voting system does not work correctly and alerts the head of the company, James Hemmings, via an e-mail that he deletes.
Dobbs takes the campaign a bit too seriously, to the chagrin of his manager, Jack Menken, and his show's producer, Eddie Langston. The night of the presidential debates, fed up with the other candidates' posturing, Dobbs shifts back into comedy, keeping the audience laughing while making serious points. He continues his showman persona on the campaign trail, shaking up the political landscape and surging in the polls, but remains well behind Kellogg and Mills.
On Election Day, early returns show Kellogg beating Mills everywhere, exactly as Eleanor predicted the voting system would report. Dobbs sweeps the 13 states in which he is on the ballot, taking enough electoral votes to be elected president. When Eleanor confronts Hemmings about the Delacroy computer error, senior executive Stewart turns her aside. While Dobbs and his team move from shock to celebration, Eleanor is attacked in her home and given an injection. The next day, she displays erratic behavior and is sent to the hospital, where tests reveal high levels of illegal drugs. Her workmate Danny visits and reveals he has been promoted, which she thinks is an effort to buy him off. He tries to convince her that she has a drug habit and that no one will listen if she goes public, but she decides that Dobbs will believe her.
Traveling to Washington and impersonating an FBI agent, Eleanor explains to Dobbs that she was recently fired by Delecroy, but he is pulled away before she can explain the election results. Dobbs tries to contact Eleanor by calling Delacroy's headquarters, and Hemmings explains Eleanor was fired due to a drug problem.
Eleanor figures out the flaw in Delacroy's system – no matter the actual results, the system declares the winner as the name with double letters, in alphabetical order, so that Do’’bb’’s beats Kello’’gg’’, which beats Mi’’ll’’s. Eleanor calls Dobbs and he whisks her off to a Thanksgiving celebration with his friends. Smitten with her, he says he already knows about her drug problem, which she denies and tells him that the election result was wrong before leaving. Dobbs calls Eleanor, telling her that he will break the news the next day. She calls Danny, who informs Stewart, who preempts Dobbs' public announcement by announcing that Eleanor was caught attempting to manipulate the election for Dobbs but that her efforts had no impact on the polls. Dobbs' team turns against Eleanor, except for Dobbs. Eleanor becomes increasingly concerned for her safety, and sees Delacroy agents break into her motel room and take her computer.
She flees to a crowded mall, but is followed and apprehended by a Delacroy agent. She escapes and calls Dobbs from a pay phone, but another Delacroy agent drives his truck into the phone booth. Dobbs goes to the scene and talks with the injured Eleanor in her ambulance, where she convinces him of the truth.
Dobbs’ friends encourage him to remain president, with polls showing that 60% of the nation wants him in office. That night, invited onto the
Weekend Update
''Weekend Update'' is a ''Saturday Night Live'' sketch and satirical news program that comments on and parodies current events. It is the show's longest-running recurring sketch, having been on since the show's first broadcast, and is typic ...
segment of ''
Saturday Night Live
''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serves a ...
'', Dobbs announces that the Delacroy vote system was flawed, that Eleanor told her bosses but they covered it up and silenced her, and that he will not run in the new election that must now take place.
President Kellogg wins a second term, Dobbs returns to hosting his satirical news program, with Eleanor as his producer and later his wife, and the Delacroy executives are arrested.
''TIME'' magazine chooses Dobbs as
Person of the Year.
Cast
*
Robin Williams
Robin McLaurin Williams (July 21, 1951August 11, 2014) was an American actor and comedian. Known for his improvisational skills and the wide variety of characters he created on the spur of the moment and portrayed on film, in dramas and come ...
as Tom Dobbs
*
Christopher Walken
Christopher Walken (born Ronald Walken; March 31, 1943) is an American actor. Prolific in film, television and on stage, Walken is the recipient of numerous accolades including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Awar ...
as Jack Menken
*
Laura Linney
Laura Leggett Linney (born February 5, 1964) is an American actress. Having studied acting at Juilliard School (1986-1990), she became known for her complex and multilayered performances on stage and screen. She has received various accolades, ...
as Eleanor Green
*
Lewis Black
Lewis Niles Black (born August 30, 1948) is an American stand-up comedian and actor. His comedy routines often escalate into angry rants about history, politics, religion, or any other cultural trends.
He hosted the Comedy Central series ''Lewis ...
as Eddie Langston
*
Jeff Goldblum
Jeffrey Lynn Goldblum (; born October 22, 1952) is an American actor and musician. He has starred in some of the highest-grossing films of his era, such as ''Jurassic Park'' (1993) and '' Independence Day'' (1996), as well as their sequels.
...
as Stewart
*
David Alpay
David Alpay (born 6 October 1980) is a Canadians, Canadian actor, musician and producer, known for playing Mark Smeaton in the Showtime (TV network), Showtime series ''The Tudors'' and Jade in the Epix series ''From (TV series), From''.
Early ...
as Danny
*
Rick Roberts as James Hemmings
*
Karen Hines
Karen Hines is a Canadian actor, writer and director. She is the artistic director and producer of "Keep Frozen: Pochsy Productions." Born in Chicago, raised in Toronto, she now lives in Calgary where she was playwright in Residence at Alberta Th ...
as Alison McAndrews
*
Linda Kash
Linda Kash (born 17 January 1961) is a Canadian actress.
Career
An alumna of Second City, she played Trudy Weissman in the 1998 Jean Smart sitcom '' Style & Substance''. She has also played various roles in popular television series, such as ' ...
as Jenny Adams
* David Nichols as President Kellogg
*
David Ferry as Senator Mills
*
Jacqueline Pillon
Jacqueline Patricia Pillon (born December 27, 1977) is a Canadian actress. She is best known as the voice of Matt from ''Cyberchase'' and Cookie Falcone (MacDougall) in ''Fugget About It''.
Life and career Early life
Pillon was born in Winds ...
as Security Tech
Tina Fey
Elizabeth Stamatina "Tina" Fey (; born May 18, 1970) is an American actress, comedian, writer, producer, and playwright. She is best known for her work on the NBC sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'' (1997–2006) and for creating the ...
and
Amy Poehler
Amy Poehler (; born September 16, 1971) is an American comedian, actress, writer, producer, and director. After studying improv at Chicago's Second City and ImprovOlympic in the early 1990s, Poehler co-founded the improvisational-comedy trou ...
make cameo appearances as themselves as part of the
Weekend Update
''Weekend Update'' is a ''Saturday Night Live'' sketch and satirical news program that comments on and parodies current events. It is the show's longest-running recurring sketch, having been on since the show's first broadcast, and is typic ...
skit on ''
Saturday Night Live
''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serves a ...
''.
Production
Casting
Director
Barry Levinson
Barry Lee Levinson (born April 6, 1942) is an American filmmaker, comedian and actor. Levinson's best-known works are mid-budget comedy drama and drama films such as '' Diner'' (1982); ''The Natural'' (1984); ''Good Morning, Vietnam'' (1987); ' ...
originally wanted
Howard Stern
Howard Allan Stern (born January 12, 1954) is an American radio and television personality, comedian, and author. He is best known for his radio show, ''The Howard Stern Show'', which gained popularity when it was nationally syndicated on terre ...
for the starring role of Tom Dobbs, which would have been his second movie role after starring as himself in ''
Private Parts''. Scheduling conflicts with Stern's debut on Sirius radio prevented him from taking on the part.
Release
Universal Pictures
Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...
released ''Man of the Year'' theatrically on October 13, 2006. It grossed $37.3 million in North America and $3.9 million in other territories for a total worldwide gross of $41.2 million.
Universal Pictures Home Entertainment
Universal Pictures Home Entertainment (formerly Universal Studios Home Entertainment, Universal Studios Home Video, MCA/Universal Home Video, MCA Home Video, MCA Videodisc and MCA Videocassette, Inc.) is the home video distribution division of Am ...
released it on DVD on February 20, 2007, where it grossed another $25.1 million in sales.
Reception
''Man of the Year'' received mostly negative reviews. On
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
it has an approval rating of 21% based on reviews from 147 critics, with an average rating of 4.40/10. The site's consensus states: "Weakened by second-half attempts at thriller and romance, this presidential comedy also fails to hit any sharp political notes, resulting in a confused and unsatisfying mess." On
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
the film has a score of 39% based on reviews from 30 critics.
Stephanie Zacharek
Stephanie Zacharek is an American film critic at ''Time'', based in New York City. From 2013 to 2015, she was the principal film critic for ''The Village Voice''. She was a 2015 Pulitzer Prize finalist in criticism.
Early life
Stephanie Zachare ...
of
Salon.com
''Salon'' is an American politically progressive/ liberal news and opinion website created in 1995. It publishes articles on U.S. politics, culture, and current events.
Content and coverage
''Salon'' covers a variety of topics, including re ...
wrote, "It's a comedy, a political thriller, a love story: Barry Levinson's ''Man of the Year'' tries to be all things to all people and fails on every count – a little like the generic, ineffectual politicians it's pretending to excoriate".
James Berardinelli
James Berardinelli (born September 25, 1967) is an American film critic and former engineer. His reviews are mainly published on his blog ''ReelViews.'' Approved as a critic by the aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, he has published two collections of r ...
of ReelViews felt it "makes telling points and has a lot to say, but it loses its voice along with its consistency around the mid-way point". Josh Larsen of the Sun Publications line of newspapers asked straight out, "What is it about Robin Williams that he often appears in these wild misfires, pictures that are so full of promise yet so disastrous in execution?"
Frank Lovece
Frank Lovece () is an American journalist and author, and a comic book writer primarily for Marvel Comics, where he and artist Mike Okamoto created the miniseries ''Atomic Age''. His longest affiliation has been with the New York metropolitan ar ...
of ''
Film Journal International
''Film Journal International'' was a motion-picture industry trade magazine published by the American company Prometheus Global Media. It was a sister publication of ''Adweek'', '' Billboard'', ''The Hollywood Reporter'', and other periodicals.
H ...
'' placed the well-regarded Levinson's challenge and failure within a larger context: "If satire is what dies on a Saturday night, then political-satire movies are what die on Fridays. Maybe we're used to the TV topicality of ''
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
'' or ''
Real Time with Bill Maher
''Real Time with Bill Maher'' is an American television talk show that airs weekly on HBO, hosted by comedian and political satirist Bill Maher. Much like his previous series ''Politically Incorrect'' on Comedy Central and later on ABC, ''Real Ti ...
'', whereas movies are months in the making, turning their current events into history. Yet successful satire needn't be topical – witness ''
Network
Network, networking and networked may refer to:
Science and technology
* Network theory, the study of graphs as a representation of relations between discrete objects
* Network science, an academic field that studies complex networks
Mathematics
...
'', ''
Election
An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office.
Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...
'', ''
Dr. Strangelove
''Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb'', known simply and more commonly as ''Dr. Strangelove'', is a 1964 black comedy film that satirizes the Cold War fears of a nuclear conflict between the Soviet Union and t ...
'' – because some verities are timeless. Since when, after all, hasn't there been a populist saying, 'Throw the rascals out'?"
The film debuted at #3 at the box office its opening weekend, with a theatrical gross of $12,550,000.
The film would later be seen as prescient, with the election of TV comedians to the presidency of both
Guatemala
Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by H ...
(
Jimmy Morales
Jimmy Morales (born James Ernesto Morales Cabrera, ; 18 March 1969) is a Guatemalan politician, actor and comedian. From 2016 to 2020, he served as the 50th president of Guatemala.
Early and personal life
Morales was born in Guatemala City ...
in 2017) and
Ukraine
Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...
(
Volodymyr Zelensky
Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelenskyy, ; russian: Владимир Александрович Зеленский, Vladimir Aleksandrovich Zelenskyy, (born 25 January 1978; also transliterated as Zelensky or Zelenskiy) is a Ukrainian politicia ...
in 2019).
See also
*
Pat Paulsen
Patrick Layton Paulsen (July 6, 1927 – April 25, 1997) was an American comedian and satirist notable for his roles on several of the Smothers Brothers television shows, and for his satirical campaigns for President of the United States between ...
, comedian who ran for President.
*
Vermin Supreme
Vermin Love Supreme (born 1960 or 1961) is an American performance artist and activist who has run as a candidate in various local, state, and national elections in the United States. He served as a member of the Libertarian Party's judicial c ...
, comedian and perennial candidate.
*
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...
, television personality who became President of the United States.
*
Stephen Colbert presidential campaign, 2008
On October 16, 2007, satirist Stephen Colbert (in the guise of his character) officially announced that he would run for President of the United States. This came after weeks of being pressured to do so by the public and stating that he would nee ...
References
External links
* (archived)
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Man Of The Year (2006 Film)
2000s comedy thriller films
2000s English-language films
2000s political comedy-drama films
2006 comedy-drama films
2006 films
2006 romantic comedy-drama films
American comedy thriller films
American political comedy-drama films
American political satire films
American romantic comedy-drama films
Films about fictional presidents of the United States
Films about presidential elections
Films directed by Barry Levinson
Films scored by Graeme Revell
Films set in the White House
Films shot in Hamilton, Ontario
Films shot in Toronto
Morgan Creek Productions films
United States presidential succession in fiction
Universal Pictures films
2000s American films