Cast: Gibson Frazier, Susan Egan, Cara Buono, Brian Davies, Dwight Ewell, Frank Gorshin, David Margulies, Anthony Rapp, Timothy Burns, Marisa Ryan, Bobby Short, Michael Allinson
Director: Adam Abraham
Producers: Adam Abraham, Gibson Frazier
Screenplay: Gibson Frazier & Adam Abraham
Cinematography: Matthew Jensen
Music: Michael Weiner
U.S. Distributor: Fine Line Features
As Johnny Twennies (Gibson Frazier), the lead character of Man of the Century, might say, director Adam Abraham has got a lot of moxie. After all, it takes guts to tie one's cinematic fortunes to a project this offbeat. Fortunately for Abraham, the movie won the Audience Award at the 1999 Slamdance Film Festival (the January Park City event where the real independent films unspool), then was picked up by Fine Line Features for U.S. distribution. As a result, audiences across the country are getting a chance to see something that doesn't come along every week.
Man of the Century is essentially a one-joke concept, but it's a very good joke, and, considering the way Abraham develops things, he gets a lot of mileage out of it. Johnny is a perfect movie hero right out of an early talkie - a no-nonsense gentleman who believes in chivalry, integrity, and clean living. He likes dancing to the old standards and is never in a bad mood. He wouldn't know what to do in a therapist's office if he got an appointment. Instead of using profanity, he utters old-fashioned phrases like "I feel slap-happy all over" and "You're the limit." He writes his column for the New York Sun-Telegram on an antiquated Smith-Corona, and doesn't believe in pre-marital sex (much to the distress of his girlfriend). In short, Johnny is an idealized version of a '20s man who, through some bizarre quirk of fate, is living in the 1990s.
This is a new twist on an old theme, the so-called "fish out of water" scenario, in which the humor results from a character not realizing that his behavior is inappropriate for his setting. Abraham has a lot of fun with Johnny's anachronistic attitudes and activities. However, since he is surrounded by equally odd individuals (a would-be opera singer who makes her living delivering prescription drugs, a gay photographer who reviles himself for selling out, a thug who quotes Shakespeare, and an talent scout with an affinity for S&M), Johnny doesn't seem as out-of-synch as he might in an normal '90s environment. In fact, by electing to film in black-and-white and by employing a soundtrack of old tunes (a la Woody Allen), Abraham gives Man of the Century an out-of-time quality. That impression is strengthened by the opening montage, which forms a tribute to silent films - the stock is grainy and overexposed, the music is of the generic organ variety used to score many releases during the teens and '20s, and, of course, there's no spoken dialogue.
Throughout Man of the Century, style clearly takes precedence over story. There is a plot, although it doesn't hold together well and is far from effectively developed. It has something to do with Johnny trying to save his job at the Sun-Telegram by exposing the secret identity of a notorious gangster. Along the way, he faces romantic difficulties with his girlfriend (who wants a '90s relationship), outwits a couple of low-life buffoons, and plays Sir Lancelot to a pretty girl who is mugged on a New York City street. In the end, nearly every character in the movie improbably gathers together for a big song-and-dance finale.
Gibson Frazier finds the right tone for Johnny. He plays him straight, rather than as the butt of some huge cosmic joke, which allows us to sympathize with the guy, as strange as he is. Susan Egan, perhaps best know for originating the role of Belle in the Broadway musical version of Disney's Beauty and the Beast, is delightful as Samantha, Johnny's exasperated girlfriend, who's having difficulty getting past first base with her atypical beau. Carla Buono is the girl that Johnny rescues, Anthony Rapp is his photographer partner, and Marisa Ryan is his mother, who isn't trapped in the '20s like her son - she's stuck back in the late 1800s. Frank Gorshin and Bobby Short have small roles.
Man of the Century is not without problems, but the originality of the concept and the unique way in which it is executed more than counterbalance the flaws. Another bonus is that Abraham doesn't feel compelled to stretch the material out. The movie clocks in at a svelte 78 minutes, which is just about the right length. Longer would have been problematic, and the effervescent pace might have suffered. Man of the Century is not mainstream fare, but, for those who enjoy venturing to the cinema to see something that is both feather light and of a different feather, this film is a solid choice.
© 1999 James Berardinelli