Before extolling on the virtues and mixed offerings of Man of the Century, I must make a confession: I will watch ANYTHING to see Susan Egan.
With that much said, I must admit that I was surprised, given the concept, at how entertaining this movie was. The opening of the film is probably its best feature, with a very clever "silent film" feel which I was sad to see not continued at points through the flick. Also, it must be admitted that the "musical numbers" come out of nowhere and are a little embarrassing. I was charmed to the hilt by the acting of Gibson Frazier (and, of course.....Susan), and the twenties-speak is phenomenal. I had to try it on many people before I lost my nerve, with some rather hilarious results.
But the ending does sneak up on one rather fast and the pieces of the puzzle are too simple, but this is a 20's film parody, after all. Also there is a preoccupation in the dialogue with unnecessary cuss words. I'm not one to be offended by language, but this was really a defeating level of linguistic gravity in otherwise fun situations.
In all, Man of the Century was a fun and frank commentary on post-modernity, which needed a little more crafting to appeal to mainstream viewers. But then, this could never have been a popular film. The world is too fragile to take criticism these days.
With that much said, I must admit that I was surprised, given the concept, at how entertaining this movie was. The opening of the film is probably its best feature, with a very clever "silent film" feel which I was sad to see not continued at points through the flick. Also, it must be admitted that the "musical numbers" come out of nowhere and are a little embarrassing. I was charmed to the hilt by the acting of Gibson Frazier (and, of course.....Susan), and the twenties-speak is phenomenal. I had to try it on many people before I lost my nerve, with some rather hilarious results.
But the ending does sneak up on one rather fast and the pieces of the puzzle are too simple, but this is a 20's film parody, after all. Also there is a preoccupation in the dialogue with unnecessary cuss words. I'm not one to be offended by language, but this was really a defeating level of linguistic gravity in otherwise fun situations.
In all, Man of the Century was a fun and frank commentary on post-modernity, which needed a little more crafting to appeal to mainstream viewers. But then, this could never have been a popular film. The world is too fragile to take criticism these days.