A weak script and lack of focus by the directer doom this poor effort.

Completely misses the audience. The humor is aimed at the dumbest common denominator, and the waffling back and forth between the slapstick-Robin Williams run-on joke and Laura Linney's take on The Net makes your brain hurt.

The critical lashing of this movie is typical of critics, you know the guys that are so focused on technical elements of film that they forgot how to have fun at the movies. This movie is flawed. It has identity issues; however it also has amazingly funny moments and great performances. As someone who has never found Robin Williams to be particularly funny, I really enjoyed him in this role. Laura Linney is one of the most talented women to ever grace the screen. I say go for it and have fun with it. its not a bad movie, and it achieves the simple task of entertainment, And remember, critics gave jackass number two a better rating on here.… Expand

Not one of Williams's best pictures despite an outstanding performance, but with the help of a great supporting cast and some nice suspense sequences, this was a very satisfying movie.

The movie was enjoyable if you are a Robin Williams fan. He appeared to have liberty with the dialogue and he was quick and fun to watch. It was not an educational film about how elections are run, but gave pause to think of just how our votes are counted...as in Florida. It brings up how the almighty dollar controls all business at the expense of morality and ethics.

Robin Williams plays himself in a movie best left for DVD (or cable). Laura Liney does a wonderful job, but seems like she should be in a different film. Unremarkable in almost every way.

Robin Williams was absolutely perfect in this role. It was refreshing to have a whiff of honesty in politics!

A late-night TV political comedian (Robin Williams) decides to actually run for the Presidency, apparently assuming that the public would find his pathetically toothless, Jay Leno-like barbs preferable to the platitudes and do-nothingism of his two major-party opponents. If that's really the case, we're all in big trouble: Barry Levinson's remarkably spineless, would-be satire (which lacks even the minimum requirements to characterize it as such) not only scrupulously avoids drawing blood, it doesn't even try to nibble on any of its apparent targets. The Republican challenger and Democratic incumbent (an old-school type who managed to gain the White House anyway, making this film a bigger fantasy than any of the Lord of the Rings series, together or seperate) aren't caricatured at all; Williams' monologues pathologically shy away from such hot-button subject matter as Iraq, abortion, the role of religion in politics or anything that really matters to either side of the spectrum. Levinson's spinelessness has been repeatedly measured in other reviews and posts against the cogency of his supremely well-observed and still relevant 1993 faux-documentary Wag the Dog; I'd prefer to recall the script he cowrote for 1979's ...And Justice For All, a two-hour primal shriek of agony and outrage against the inequities and ineptitudes of the American legal system that was too raw and passionate to care much about being tagged as heavy-handed; flaws and all, it was a work of courage that Levinson appears to have lost long ago. God bless Laura Linney, who as a suspicious pollster who discovers something ominous in the vote-counting process, seems to be under the illusion that she's acting in a real movie; whenever she's on screen, particularly in two scenes when her character is in jeopardy, she almost convinces us too. The most trenchant (if not especially original) observation that Man of the Year makes is that many potential voters get more of their news from comedians like Jon Stewart, Bill Maher and Stephen Colbert than they do from more traditional sources. Here's an idea: why not make a movie about a Colbert-type--a liberal pretending to be a conservative--conducting a psuedo-campaign who becomes forced to decide whether to continue playing his familiar role or really say what he believes when his run for high office really catches fire? That's gotta work better than almost anything in Man of the Year...provided that Levinson and Williams stay far, far away from it.… Expand

A great film...not really. Very dissapointing no matter how hard you try and enjoy it. Has robin Willams lost his Ms. Doubtfire charm or has he just been in more and more terrible films. First RV, now this. What has he come to? They say all good actors show up in bad movies, but we have to draw the line somewhere.

It’s time for a guilty pleasure confession. I like political dramas, especially anything involving a President of the United States. I own and am very fond of the movies “Dave” and “An American President” among others. When I saw that Robin Williams was doing this film, I knew it would be worth the price of a few tickets, despite my refusal to see the much-panned “RV”. I was expecting a situation comedy. I was surprised to my delight that I was watching something quite different than I expected. After all, this is the time of year that the studios roll out their Oscar contenders. For some reason, I didn’t even take that into consideration. So is the film funny? Yes. Robin Williams delivers a seriously dramatic performance while still allowing himself to tickle our funny bone in ways that only he can. This is thanks in part to Barry Levinson’s script and direction. One always wonders how much of what ended up in the can is William’s improvisation versus screenplay, but it all works. This is by far William’s best performance on record since Levinson directed him almost three decades ago in “Good Morning Vietnam”. However, for those expecting a laugh riot from the get go will be sorely disappointed. What we have here is a political satire that takes punches at the “marketing” aspects of running for office while warning us of making changes to our already fallible system of elections. Laura Linney (whose performance as Truman Burbank’s wife in “The Truman Show” goes beyond annoying) might actually help me forget the nails-on-the-chalkboard feeling that I get every time I recall her résumé. At times, her performance is absolutely brilliant in this film. With an excellent cast and excellent writing, this film should make you happy you went to see it; however, you will probably be disappointed. With its heavy-handed message and a series of trailers that have little to do with the meat of the film, most people will leave this film feeling cheated. This would be comparable to going to a restaurant and ordering prime rib only to have the waiter bring you a filet instead. Yes, it is not what you ordered, but it’s still a cut above the rest.… Expand

I really enjoyed this movie, particularly for its political humor. The storywriting was good up to a certain point, but towards the end, it slacked off. Overall a good movie, and definetly worth watching.

A solid Robin Williams performance, part comedy, part drama. I find it difficult to listen to reviewers who don't rate the movie they are watching but, instead, rate it compared to how the reviewer thinks it would be if it were differently constructed or played by different actors. Laura Linney again produces magic on the screen with her character study.

The problem with people who vote positively on movies like this, is that they are so used to choking down garbage that they forget what anything really good is. This movie was VERY flawed. This movie was executed very poorly.

I hate upvoters who have no taste or intelligence. They couldn't possibly think when watching a movie, they just choke down one bad movie full of crap after another, trying to wonder why all these "evil critics" always hate there "averagely rated films" Simple answer: You’re wrong. This movie was extremely poor, and was not enjoyable to watch at all. The commercials even make it seem like a comedy, but it rarely is. Like 1/2 scenes.… Expand

Severe lack of focus meets poor execution.

"Man of the Year" is a film without an identity, it doesn't quite know what it wants to be, and doesn't really achieve anything. For those of you who are expecting high comedy, if you've seen any Robin Williams standup in the past few years, those same jokes litter this film. Perhaps the most telling sign that this movie fails as a comedy is the fact that the characters on screen spend more time laughing than the audience, sort of a makeshift laugh track. Perhaps ironically, there's a laugh track joke in the film. "Man of the Year" is a prime example of a good concept poorly executed.… Expand

RW is hilarious as always. There are some great laughs, but the movie loses itself in the "thriller" plot in the middle. Still worth it just for the debate scene!

Excellent Movie. Hopefully this will make people realize how ignorant there government is getting. Very Funny too.

"Man Of The Year" is the kind of movie that appeals to all kinds of tastes. For example, the first thirty minutes are mostly comedic(and very hilarious, I may add), and then the rest of the film takes a fairly dark and interesting tone. While I was a bit dismayed at the idea of switching a comedy into a thriller, this movie seemed to pull it off fairly well while losing some potential. Is it one of the greatest films of all time? Not at all. Is it worth a watch? You bet.… Expand

This film is a soggy, sorry mess. Which is a shame because I went with the highest of expectations given the track record of the director Barry Levinson (Wag the Dog) and Robin Williams who collaborated on the brilliant war comedy "Good Morning, Vietnam. "This time around, the director gets trapped by one to many storylines in search of a decent plot. Williams is excellent when left to improvise but the rest of the project is a 3rd rate corporate thriller that makes little sense....Rent "Mr Smith Goes to Washington (1939). Its a much better movie about the same concept of a populist politician against the establishment....and while you're at it, you should check out "Meet John Doe" with Gary Cooper...an even blacker, more cynical look at American politics and values by Capra....… Expand

This film was pretty much as un-funny as a comedy can be. We left the theatre during the scene where the woman and Tom Hobbs are talking after paintball. I couldn't help but role my eyes at how cheezy and boring it was. Christopher Walken does his usual weird thing, but instead of being brilliantly weird, its just plain creepy. Jeff Goldblumes acting is laughable also. Not a funny film at all.… Expand

I called it! I friggin' called it! There was too much buzz about this movie..."oh yeah....so funny...a comedian as president...that's great." AHHHH! it sucked. robin williams is disgusting!! anywho, i called the suckage of this film. I knew it.

Levinson is a weenie and Williams wasted his talent on years of doing blow. Sad.

This film left a lot to be desired. But, if you really enjoy Robin Williams, as I do, you might want to go see it anyway.

A horrible mess...fails as a satire and fails as a thriller. You know it's bad when the script calls for the supporting cast to constantly tell eachother how funny the main character is being...seriously several times Frank Black turns to Christopher Walken during one of Williams impromptu monologues and says "Boy he's really being funny now"....though it's painfully apparent that nothing Williams says in this movie is either funny or sadly even scathing.… Expand

They had quite a few stupid parts, but overall I really enjoyed the movie.