There used to be a time when you could make political jokes without threat of being censored or 'cancelled'. But sadly, our world has lost its sense of humor. Robin Williams was one who pushed the envelope in his stand-up and movies. When we lost Robin Williams the world lost a huge part of its smile.
In 2006, just under a decade before Robin Williams would tragically take his own life, Robin starred in a political satire entitled Man of the Year. now Shout Factory is celebrating the life of Robin Williams with the release of this film on Blu-ray!
Synopsis: Tom Dobbs is a comedian TV show host ala Bill Maher or Jon Stewart with a reputation for telling it like it is. An idle remark about running for President finds Dobbs trust into the political arena. Unleashing his trademark comic rants on the powers that be. Dobbs finds that the joke is one him when - against all logic, reason and punditry - he wins the election!
Barry Levinson, best known for his films, Rain Man, The Natural, Wag the Dog and Bugsy, wrote and directed this film. This wasn't the first time he worked with Robin Williams over 20 years earlier he directed Robin in the classic Good Morning, Vietnam.
Okay so in all honesty Man of the Year is not Robin Williams best film, not by a longshot. But it is a very entertaining and somewhat insightful piece of cinema. When Robin is doing his schtick it is full on fun, but when it gets to the more dramatic scenes the film does drag a bit.
Robin Williams is surrounded by a great cast including, Laura Linney (The Truman Show), Christopher Walken (The Dead Zone), Lewis Black (Inside Out), Jeff Goldblum (The Fly, Jurassic Park) and David Alpay (The Tutors).
The film has been transferred to Blu-ray in 1080p and it is presented in widescreen format in 2.35:1 aspect ratio. the audio is a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1. There is the option for English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing.
Shout Factory's transfer of Man of the Year to Blu-ray is a solid one. It features a sharp picture with beautiful color palette and the audio is clean with no signs of hiss or pops. This film truly looks wonderful in HD!
Now for bonuses, well, this Blu-ray just features the film and nothing else. I wished there were an audio commentary from Levinson or a retrospective about the comedy of Ronin Williams or even a trailer would have been nice.
I really enjoy the movies of Robin Williams, even the ones that maybe are not his best, he always brings so much to his films. I truly miss seeing him perform. But that is why physical media is such a must. These films live on forever, thanks to companies like Shout Factory.
If you enjoy the films of Robin Williams as much as me, you need this new Shout Factory Blu-ray of Man of the Year. Head over to MovieZyng and order your copy today!
Out of 4 Film Reels (4n being the best) Man of the Year receives.....
 Shout Factory Blu-ray Review ){kind=link}
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