Man of the Year

SYNOPSIS

In the latter part of his career, Robin Williams seems to have settled into a nice groove in which he shares his time between serious movies (The Night Listener) and crowd-pleasing comedies (Night at the Museum). The problem with this offering from director Barry Levinson (Good Morning, Vietnam, Rain Man, Wag the Dog) is that it attempts to appeal to both sets of fans at the same time. The comedy premise goes like this: dispirited by an uninspiring line-up of candidates for the US Presidency, a Jon Stewart-like talk-show host (Williams) decides to throw his hat into the ring and is astonished when he actually wins the election. What he doesn't know is that the electronic voting machines have a glitch - one that only software programmer Laura Linney knows about. Her bosses, who include an oily Jeff Goldblum, are determined to shut her up, and it's then that the movie changes gear and turns into a conspiracy thriller. It's a shame because Williams appears to relish a return to his stand-up roots and the concept - a comedian in the White House - is certainly ripe with comic potential.