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Man of the Year

Play trailer Man of the Year Released Mar 15, 1996 1h 27m Comedy Play Trailer Watchlist
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24% Tomatometer 17 Reviews 20% Popcornmeter Fewer than 50 Ratings
Shafer's semi-documentary account of his reign as Playgirl's Man of the Year as he led a double life as a homosexual.

Critics Reviews

View All (17) Critics Reviews
Emanuel Levy Variety This original but ultimately unsuccessful serio-comic look at Dirk Shafer, Playgirl's 1992 centerfold, served as closing night of the 1996 Outfest, and some gay viewers may like it. Rated: C Dec 26, 2006 Full Review Boston Globe Rated: 2/4 Oct 14, 2006 Full Review Peter Rainer Christian Science Monitor Rated: C Oct 14, 2006 Full Review Christian McLaughlin The Advocate Throughout the film the satiric potential inherent in the material goes almost completely unexplored by Shafer, who unwisely attempts to dignify the autobiographical project with heavy-handed, even maudlin overtones. Apr 5, 2022 Full Review Michelle Orange Reeler How the director of Wag the Dog and his Good Morning Vietnam star Robin Williams ended up in this fine mess is anyone's guess. Jan 31, 2007 Full Review Jim Lane Sacramento News & Review ...half unfunny comedy and half uncompelling drama. Rated: 2/5 Oct 20, 2006 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (3) audience reviews
Audience Member Unusual part documentary and part mockumentary, it's often hard to tell what is real and what isn't. Whatever the case it is interesting and also very funny at times. Cleverly put together by director star Dirk Shafer. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/18/23 Full Review Audience Member [center][font=Century Gothic][u][size=5]Man of the Year Review [/size][/u][size=5][size=2] [b]Rating: 3.7/10 Rated: PG-13 Starring: Robin Williams, Laura Linney, Lewis Black, Christopher Walken, and Jeff Goldbum Genre: Comedy/Thriller [color=Green]My Grade: D+ [/color][/b][color=Green][color=Black]"Man of the Year" was the film with potential that just couldn't make up its mind about what it wanted to be about, so it just crumbled beneath its feet. Like so many of the other "political comedies" that have come out in the past years like "Welcome to Mooseport", "Head of State", and "American Dreamz"... "Man of the Year" isn't funny enough to be called a comedy and it doesn't have enough to say that really means anything to the audience. Barry Levinson who started off his career strong and went down from here (his past film being one of the worst films of all time "Envy") he keeps going down with "Man of the Year." Like so many other so-called comedies of the last year, this film suffers from the indecisive and horrific illness called "The Click Syndrome"... it just can't make up its mind at all, so we're given two genres that just don't mix well. [img]http://img340.imageshack.us/img340/8140/manoftheyearpicch0.jpg[/img] While Robin Williams has his hilarious quips and some very funny little bits during the "debate" scene, he just can't keep this movie on its two feet. Laura Linney and Jeff Goldblum are left in the dust with an absolutely ridiculous backstory that is more thriller and horror, than it is funny. The audience is asked of to care about Williams' story about becoming president, but its so hard to do because there's this other unneeded story about this computer ballot that turns into a chaotic suspense story lacking any sort of sense. I wanted to like this movie, but there's really no possible way that you can. Neither story is developed enough... so, the audience doesn't care about either story... or the movie for that matter. [b]Concensus: [/b]An indecisive little film, that suffers from annoying genre-switches... its not funny or suspenseful enough to make anything work. [img]http://img180.imageshack.us/img180/9414/manoftheyearposterbigei4.jpg[/img] [size=4][u][b]Next Review: A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints[/b][/u][/size] [/color][/color][/size][/size][/font][/center] Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 02/07/23 Full Review Audience Member Unusual part documentary and part mockumentary, it's often hard to tell what is real and what isn't. Whatever the case it is interesting and also very funny at times. Cleverly put together by director star Dirk Shafer. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/30/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Man of the Year

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Cast & Crew

The Big Empty 67% 48% The Big Empty Watchlist The Last Big Thing 67% 60% The Last Big Thing Watchlist Citizen Ruth 81% 74% Citizen Ruth Watchlist Tin Cup 74% 65% Tin Cup Watchlist The Full Monty 96% 79% The Full Monty Watchlist Discover more movies and TV shows. View More

Movie Info

Synopsis Shafer's semi-documentary account of his reign as Playgirl's Man of the Year as he led a double life as a homosexual.
Director
Dirk Shafer
Screenwriter
Dirk Shafer
Production Co
Artisan Entertainment
Genre
Comedy
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Mar 15, 1996, Original
Runtime
1h 27m
Sound Mix
Stereo