Andrew Clarke

Last updated 14:35, Friday, 12 September 2008

THE main problem with Robin Williams’ latest, Man of the Year, is that it doesn’t quite know what it wants to be. It’s neither funny enough to be a comedy, biting enough to be a political satire, nor gripping enough to be a drama.

Time to review another DVD

So what you’re left with is an inconsistent film of half-measures that goes down as a missed opportunity on every level. The film begins with Williams, as talkshow host Tom Dobbs, warming up his show’s audience with a bit of political banter.

This is essentially a stand-up comedy routine from Williams in full flow – a feature that is used a lot in the early parts of the film.

Now if you’re a fan of Williams’ machine-gun off-on-a-tangent style improv comedy that’s fine, but I find he is a lot more miss than hit and the same is true of his character in this film.

That being said, his audience seem to like his schtick and one even makes a throwaway comment that he run for president. And ludicrous as it may seem, this is what happens.

Running parallel to Williams’ run for the White House is the tale of the computer glitches within voting machine company, Delacroy.

So throw together an underdog yet charismatic presidential candidate and a faulty voting system and what do you get? Exactly.

However predictable the premise is, the film is kept interesting, at least in the early part, by the sub-plot of Delacroy’s dodgy voting software. Employee Eleanor (Laura Linney) spots this fault but is silenced by the top bosses, who go to extreme measures to cover up the error. But all interest evaporates when Dobbs and Eleanor are thrown together. Having started out as a political satire about the media, manipulation and corruption, the film changes gear and turns into a dull love story, with a bit of action thrown in.

Next time, No Country For Old Men.