I sat down to watch `Man of the Century' with a certain amount of guarded anticipation. Fish-out-of-water stories have always appealed to me, and the idea that this fish is an anachronism stepping out from the twenties and thirties (for his characteristics come from both decades) is irresistible. I certainly give it points for originality and the overarching sweetness of it, but it doesn't quite work. Gibson Frazier's Johnny Twennies is too unvarying from the wise-cracking, eternally optimistic character to be really engaging. There wasn't enough variety in his performance and it did wear a little thin after the first 15 minutes. Physically, he was just right-sort of a cross between Charley Chase and Harold Lloyd. But even they expressed a wide range of human emotion in those sunny short comedies of the 20s, experiencing moments of self-doubt, anger and fear. I think Johnny needed more of that. Pardon me for being a traditionalist, but for an effective drama, the protagonist still needs to be a fully-formed character. As to the humor-apart from the absurd circumstances and situations, there were a few moments of amusing word-play, but not enough to categorize this as a truly funny film. As to the premise-I can accept it on face value, but it wouldn't have hurt to have at least hinted at a back-story as to why Johnny was the way he was. His mother could have hinted at a possible explanation-perhaps she raised him in the mores and milieu of 1930s American culture for her own psychotic reasons. Finally, `Man of the Century' touches on various genres from the period: musicals, crime dramas, slapstick, and screwball comedy, but doesn't really do them full justice. A great premise which falters in execution. With a little more forethought and truly sparkling wit, this could have been a really thought-provoking and hilarious experience rather than the pleasant trifle that it is.
Review of Man of the Century
