Man of the Year (2006)

A comedian who hosts a news satire program decides to run for president, and a computerized voting machine malfunction gets him elected.

Director:

Barry Levinson

Writer:

Barry Levinson

Stars:

Robin Williams, Laura Linney, Lewis Black

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Robin Williams	...	Tom Dobbs
Christopher Walken	...	Jack Menken
Laura Linney	...	Eleanor Green
Lewis Black	...	Eddie Langston
Jeff Goldblum	...	Stewart
David Alpay	...	Danny
Faith Daniels	...	Moderator
Tina Fey	...	Tina Fey
Amy Poehler	...	Amy Poehler
Doug Murray	...	Mathias
Chris Matthews	...	News Anchor #1
James Carville	...	Political Commentator #1
Catherine Crier	...	Political Commentator #2
Rick Roberts	...	Hemmings
Karen Hines	...	Alison McAndrews

Storyline

Tom Dobbs, comedic host of a political talk show - a la Bill Maher and Jon Stewart - runs for President of the US as an independent candidate who, after an issues-oriented campaign and an explosive performance in the final debate, gets just enough votes to win. Trouble is he owes his victory to a computer glitch in the national touch-screen voting system marketed by Delacroy, a private company with a rising stock price. To protect their fortune, Delacroy executives want to keep the glitch a secret, but one programmer, Eleanor Green, wants Dobbs to know the truth. Can she get to him?

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Plot Keywords:

presidential candidate | president | presidential election | election | campaign | 

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Taglines:

What if a Comedian Ran for President?..........What if He Won?

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for language including some crude sexual references, drug related material, and brief violence

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

13 October 2006 (USA)

Also Known As:

El hombre del año

Filming Locations:

Cambridge, Ontario, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

$20,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$12,299,380, 15 October 2006, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$37,442,180, 24 November 2006

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures,Morgan Creek Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

115 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital SDDS DTS

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Universal originally canceled the release of the DVD in Germany, following complaints about a very poor quality of the dubbing. Nonetheless, after discussions about the Clinton vs Obama US democratic party presidential campaign reached high ratings in Germany, the DVD was at last released in spring 2008.

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Goofs

When President-Elect Dobbs addresses Congress in costume, he begins by saying "Thank you Mr. Chairman". There is no Chairman in Congress. He should have said Mr. Speaker.

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Quotes

Tom Dobbs: [on his decision to run for President of the US] I'm fed up with party politics, tired of the whole Republicans versus Democrats thing. Because there's no real difference; they're all Mr. Potato-Head candidates. Basically, the operative word is party. Behind closed doors, they just have a good time. What do you think the Secretary of Defense means when he says, "I think there's an open bar somewhere"?

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Connections

References 1 Night in Paris (2004)

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Soundtracks

Sotto Le Stelle Del Jazz
Written and Performed by Paolo Conte
Courtesy of Warner Music Italy
By Arrangement with Warner Music Group Film & TV Licensing

User Reviews

This is not the movie that was advertised

Saw this movie at a Saturday matinée with a friend. Theater was about 70% full.

Although there are quite a few funny lines, it is more of a drama/suspense with humor sprinkled on top. Robin Williams gives a decent performance as does Laura Linney. Being a Daily Show fan, Lewis Black is pretty good in this. Christopher Walken gives a good performance also.

The movie starts out slow and remains that way for about the first thirty minutes, then the suspense part kicks in and starts keeping you a little on edge throughout the rest of the movie. Suspense in a supposed comedy movie? I know that I, as well as everybody else in the place, was struggling a bit with this. A character would crack a joke during suspense sequence and you would hear just one or two laughs in the theater.

In all fairness, after the movie was over there was smattering of applause. So, definitely, some people enjoyed this movie.

I gave this movie a four out of ten, because I believe the comedy aspect doesn't work very well in a suspense/drama movie and the actors performances, while not bad, were just decent.

Again, this movie isn't what was advertised.