Man of the Year

When we picked this movie from the Netflix cue it was due to Robin Williams as my husband is a fan of his work. Neither of us were expecting a movie that not only made us laugh, but made us think as well.

Tom Dobbins, played by Robin Williams, opens the show as a well known (within the storyline) political comedian, with the story semi narrated by Jack Menken, played by Christopher Walken. Almost by a fluke Dobbins announces his decision to run for president after one member of the audience suggests he does so. A write in campaign on email soon picks up momentum and before Menken has become used to the idea it's gone from a flash in the pan to a real campaign. But it's not until Dobbins goes back to using comedy on the campaign trail that he really begins to have an affect on people. When he lets loose the full force of his whit and intelligence during the presidential debate all hell breaks loose.

Meanwhile there's a change afoot in just how votes are cast. A new system of electronic voting is being put into place, created by Delacroy systems, with very clear references to the real world Diebold Election Systems. But Eleanor, played by Laura Linney, is one of the leading techs on the system and notices there is a problem. She reports it to the head of the company, but instead of the issues being looked into it's swept under the carpet. When it becomes obvious that Eleanor won't just sit back and be quiet steps are taken to silence her. A member of the Delacroy team shoots her up with drugs and sets up a situation where she has what appears to be a very public breakdown. When blood tests are run on Eleanor it's discovered there's a massive drug cocktail in her system and she's fired on the basis that she's a drug addict. A neat little way for the company to be rid of the problem.

But Eleanor won't be silenced. When Dobbins wins the election she knows it might not be a real win and tries to contact Dobbins even as he prepares to take his position as the new President of the United States. When she is finally able to talk to Dobbins he's left with a choice to make. Does he take the information public and step down, forcing a re-election? Or keep silent and take his place as President?

After wrestling with the decision he makes a public announcement, but not until Eleanor is nearly killed in an attempt to silence her once and for all. When he steps down and announces the problem he also makes it clear that he's not going to take part in the re-election.

Man of the Year was a fun couple movie to watch. Not just because of the comedy aspect which Robin Williams still does well, but the plot. There were issues raised in the movie that made you sit back and think. The way the debates are handled is just laughable, the money spent on television campaigns that has to come from special interest groups that then appear to dictate policy in some cases and the plain stupidity of some of the things that go on in the election races.

I rate Man of the Year as a four out of five movie, and well worth watching, especially during this lead up to the election.