Man Of The Century (1999) * *

Directed by: Adam Abraham

Starring: Gibson Frazier, Susan Egan, Anthony Rapp, Cara Buono

I sometimes come across movies that the world seems to know about but I don't. Maybe you don't know of it either and I'm sure the names of the actors who star in the film won't ring a bell, but every now and then I catch something on cable that seems interesting and go with it. Man Of The Century is a comedy with an interesting premise that unfortunately goes nowhere with it. It's a film I watched in frustration as I expected it to pay off but didn't.

The film stars Gibson Frazier, who also is a co-writer of the film and an actor I've never heard of, as Johnny Twennies. He is a newspaper reporter who speaks and acts like a newspaper man from the 1920's or early 1930's, as his name suggests. Using 20's slang in nearly every sentence he speaks, he always has a cigarette in his mouth and is always going after "the scoop". He speaks in a fast, clipped manner which you would've seen in 1930's screwball comedies and Three Stooges films. He has a girl "he's sweet on" named Samantha who is frustrated by "being unable to get to first base with him." But she likes him anyway, because he takes her out to "cut the rug". While courting Samantha, he is also dodging thugs who want him to plant a fake story about a dangerous, yet unseen crime lord.

Oh, I forgot to mention that Johnny lives in modern-day Manhattan, not in the 20's or 30's and his girlfriend is an art gallery curator who should be a lot more curious about his odd mannerisms than she is. This sounds like a good setup for a comedy in which anachronisms that Johnny must run into are questioned. He works for a modern-day newspaper, but he has an old typewriter and phone at his desk. He requests the operator connect him to "Yukon 5245" instead of dialing or pushing buttons. Naturally, the operator doesn't know what he's talking about. But doesn't he occasionally see a modern telephone (at least as modern as 1999) or even newer cars? How about computers, faxes, etc.? You mean to tell me he didn't encounter any of these things? It would've been interesting to see his reaction to a modern piece of technology. The closest the film comes to this is when he walks into an S & M session involving a gal pal. In the 20s, seeing this would've sent someone like Johnny into apoplexy. He hears others use swear words that he wouldn't hear normally, but he kinda brushes right past that. It would've been amusing to hear Johnny say, "What do you mean by skullfuck?"

And how about the modern-day people he comes in contact with? They think he's a bit off, but don't really question why he uses phrases like "the bee's knees." His girlfriend thinks it's odd that he hasn't kissed her on the lips yet after a month of dating, but she doesn't think much more of it. He sends her telegrams to ask for a date, but this doesn't seem to be weird to her either. In other words, they're not the least bit curious. The puzzling thing about Man Of The Century is that the film goes out of its way not to contrast 1920s vs. the 1990s. Everything is accepted as is and thus I realized that I was really watching a 1930's type of screwball comedy set in the 1990s. All the filmmakers did was change the calendar.

Man Of The Century isn't terrible. In fact, it had the makings of something unusual. Frazier has the look and talk of a man of the 20s down pat. It's not easy to behave the way he does, but he pulls it off. Johnny is happy, positive, without fear, and not the least bit cynical. All of the actors here are appealing and the black and white cinematography is right for the material. However, I kept waiting for something more to develop. I expected more 1930's optimism vs 1990's "been there, done that" New York mentality. But yet, Man Of The Century seems to avoid this and becomes a genial homage to early comedies. It's pleasant, it's cute, but it's also unimaginative. There's so much more that could've been explored.