Man of the Year

Just saw this movie at Sundance -- what a cool idea! I can't believe they made this movie in just one night with 20 cameras & no script -- it's awesome! Great cast, great performances -- lots of laughs -- really fun to watch --

I recently attended a screening of MAN OF THE YEAR, starring John Ritter. Here is a movie which was shot on something like 22 cameras at once. On a multi-split screen, we view the action of several stories simultaneously. Naturally, all of the stories eventually dovetail into one story. I found it to be totally engaging.

It's the kind of concept that could either really work, or really fail. This movie works. I enjoyed the sort of voyeuristic thrill of watching these characters interact in a way that felt totally candid. As it turns out, their stories were scripted, but the performances were all improv.

It was incredibly well done. I hope to see more from this filmmaker in the future, and from John Ritter, who was actually amazing as a totally sleazy oil executive.

Hopefully, this picture will play at the multiplexes one day. It's a refreshing break from so much of the unoriginal, formulaic stuff Hollywood asks us to digest.

Go and see it.

I saw this film recently at the Santa Monica Film Festival because I knew one of the producers. I had no idea what to expect going in and found myself truly enthralled and blown away by the accomplishments of this film. Fast, funny, brilliant, twisted, bizarre, touching, intelligent--everything you hope to find in today's indie scene but rarely do. And when you add in the technical facts--improvised dialogue, 20 cameras, one night shoot--it stands as a great representation of what can be accomplished when creative people refuse to hear the word "impossible."

This is one unique movie. The use of split screens throughout makes for non stop action that keeps the viewer's eyes glued to the screen. An interesting premise that's fully realized. It's truly unbelievable that the entire dialogue was improvised...it sounds as if it was shot from a script. The actors are uniformly excellent. Hats off to John Ritter for a sensitive, groundbreaking performance. And Lin Shaye is laugh-out-loud funny, too.

I was blown away by Straw Weisman's Man of the Year!! This is truly an ingenious film with strong characters and great acting performances. It is very interesting and holds your attention throughout the film with a unique and creative style. The film has a very impressive editing technique that really helps to define the feel of the picture. I would definitely recommend this movie to anyone!