Man of the Year

Ok. Consider all the movies, television shows and other forms of entertainment where either Robin Williams, Lewis Black or Christopher Walken starred. Most likely, their DVDs would fit in Blockbuster’s comedy section – exceptions include William’s role in “Good Will Hunting” and Walken’s role in “Pulp Fiction.”

Nevertheless, their genius lies in comedic performances. Think of Walken’s hilarious portrayal of a high-powered politician in “Wedding Crashers” or one of William’s famous roles in countless comedies. Black’s standup is epic. Those three actors and comedy go together like a dry erase board and a damp paper towel.

The hand-in-hand notion of Williams/Black/Walken and comedy must have been what promoters of the film “Man of the Year” thought immediately. Sadly, they should have watched the film before portraying it as a comedy.

It’s a dark suspense film, not a slap-stick comedy about a political comedian who decides to run for president like its trailers indicated. In recent memory, it’s skews renters perception worse than any movie available for rent.

Robin Williams plays comedian talk show host Tom Dobbs (a la Jon Stewart) who, upon pleas from numerous audience members, decides to run for president. His stage manager Jack Menken (Christopher Walken) and running mate Eddie Langston (Lewis Black) prompt Dobbs into becoming a different kind of candidate, one that Americans will appreciate.

When an electronic voting machine’s glitch determines Dobbs as the winner, diagnostics employee Eleanor Green (Laura Linney) discovers the error and attempts to report it to Delacroy executives. Stewart (Jeff Goldblum) tells her to shut her mouth in a threatening manner. The threat of her findings becomes apparent, and the chase to keep Green quiet begins.

Absolutely frightening scenes appear throughout the movie, among bits of comedy and monologues straight from the pad of Williams and Black themselves. Rent the movie and expect a thriller, not a comedy.

At least one reviewer on Imbd.com said “‘Man of the Year’ is a great example of bad and misleading marketing, because everything from the poster, to the trailer, to the online advertisements makes this movie look and feel like a comedy.”

We couldn’t agree more.