Cinema Man of the Year (2006) - Great Points But Loses Ground in the End

[Arnox]

Rating

4.00 star(s)

​

Besides The Newsroom, this is probably the only other piece of directly political cinema I actually like. It's also got Robin Williams being Robin Williams, and that's always fun to watch. It even has an interesting twist in the beginning where the voting system is broken. Unfortunately, though it starts off pretty damn strong, it starts to drop off a lot. Like someone who busts out onto the stage, says what everyone is thinking, getting everyone riled up and hyped, and then they just... Kinda stand there for the rest of the time as if they suddenly ran out of gas and finish with something lame and leave.

I think the key problem with this movie is that it doesn't really explore any other issue besides, "Two parties bad, more parties good." And don't get me wrong. That's an incredibly, even extremely important message. But for a movie, it just... Needs to have more to say than that. It needs more meat to it. I also didn't like how,

Spoiler

Robin Williams ends up declining to run for president once more. He gives some explanation behind it, saying that the jester's not supposed to be in the king's seat or something. That he's more comfortable out of it. WELL, YOU KNOW WHAT, THAT'S JUST TOO DAMN BAD, TOM. See, this is one of the problems of leadership here. The people most suited to power are very often the ones who are the most hesitant and reluctant to take it. But big boy pants must be worn, and teeth gritted, because if good people do this tired, "I'm not suitable for leadership," song and dance and don't take power, then that leaves only the unsuitable. And is that what Tom wants? To let another democrat or republican dickbag get into office again? The same people he was railing against in the beginning of the movie? If you're the best person for the job but you decline for purely personal reasons, then that's not being valiant or noble. That's just being selfish.

If Tom ran but he got a paltry amount of votes, that's one thing, and I might understand him dropping out then, but it's clear that he's got some serious momentum built up, so that means he has a shot at busting through that two-party wall. And if he has that power, then he has a responsibility to run for office.

But yeah. Two party system is bad.

 

[Vendor-Lazarus]

A two party system is bad, because it creates a marked separation. Which creates a chasm of division that fosters an extremist mindset and an intransigence towards party dogma. Sadly, that doesn't end by having more parties either. Although it dilutes it somewhat, there's still a trend towards two parties through party bloc alliances (as can be seen in Europe and its countries). What needs to change more is moving away from using Left and Right as political descriptors. Authoritarian vs Libertarian would be better, but that's not entirely enough either. Still much better as it yet again dilutes set beliefs.

 

[Arnox]

A two party system is bad, because it creates a marked separation. Which creates a chasm of division that fosters an extremist mindset and an intransigence towards party dogma. Sadly, that doesn't end by having more parties either. Although it dilutes it somewhat, there's still a trend towards two parties through party bloc alliances (as can be seen in Europe and its countries). What needs to change more is moving away from using Left and Right as political descriptors. Authoritarian vs Libertarian would be better, but that's not entirely enough either. Still much better as it yet again dilutes set beliefs.

The big issue is actually with our first-past-the-post voting system. A ranked voting system or something of that sort would MASSIVELY help this issue, if not eliminate it completely. Also, the right to vote should be restricted, but you already know about my opinions on that. And finally, you should not be allowed to "campaign" for president.

 

[Signa]

Ah, thanks for taking my suggestion! It's a movie I return to every political season for obvious reasons. And yeah, 3rd act really falls apart and it feels like they forgot they had to wrap their very topical rant into a concluding story, and didn't care to give the audience hope that things will change once someone does something to oppose the system.