Man of the Century

"Man of the Century," a likable indie film, feels fresh because of its refusal to buy completely into the Hollywood conceit upon which its plot is based. Normally, temporal-fish-out-of-water movies attempt to garner their humor from the main character's attempts to come to grips with the changed society around him. But Johnny Twennies is not just a 1920's man, he's a character from a 1920's movie. So he doesn't even try to adjust to our fin-de-siecle milieu, and the mutual incomprehension that results forms the kernel of this fast-paced, sunny, and extremely funny movie.

Johnny possesses a facility with outdated slang, an ability to defend innocent young maidens against "toughs," a generally unjustified optimism, and absolutely no curiosity about or understanding of why people around him don't act the way he thinks they will. Unfortunately, this assortment of qualities leaves him ill-equipped to deal with certain dilemmas in his life. His girlfriend loves Johnny's chivalry, dancing ability and good nature, but worries that there is something wrong with the relationship since Johnny does not appear to know what sexual advances are, much less approve of them. Johnny's optimistic, mundane reporting has failed to captivate many New York newspaper readers, meaning he has to come up with something interesting real quick or he'll be fired. Johnny's photographer Tim quits the newspaper business in disgust because it does not allow him to express himself artistically, despite Johnny's advice to "buck up." And, finally, some "toughs" pressure Johnny to fabricate a story to cover up the unfortunate disappearance of their boss. Fortunately, Johnny maintains a stiff upper lip and keeps a smile on his face, and after a giddy series of humorous misunderstandings and misadventures all is eventually set aright.

This film's success obviously depends on how well Johnny is portrayed, and Gibson Frazier delivers the performance "Man of the Century" needs. His dialogue crackles with casually used 20's slang and snaps with a vaudeville twang. His eyes are wide and bright, his mouth perpetually smiles, his chin juts, and he even glides around like a master of 20's films. Frazier does not stint on the incomprehension. When Tim tells Johnny that he can "take this job and shove it up your ass," Johnny looks down for just one second, then looks up with a smile and says "Well, you've gotta like his moxie." When his understandably frustrated girlfriend asks if he is gay, the uncomprehending Johnny replies in a bright, certain voice, "Sure I am! Gay as a day in May!" Yet Johnny is charming and chivalrous and skilled at both the Charleston and hand-to-hand fighting. We're more than willing to forgive him his lack of an answering machine and unawareness of what homosexuality is. He's got a good heart, and you root for him to triumph over our time's decadent slings and arrows.

Johnny's supporting cast forms a believable background for Johnny to play against. Outstanding in it are Susan Egan as Johnny's girlfriend, enamored of Johnny yet unable to understand his complete lack of lustful feelings; the gorgeous Cara Buono as the young Virginia, similarly enamored of Johnny; and Anthony Rapp as Tim the photographer, taking a stereotype and making it believable and almost sympathetic.

"Man of the Century" is not perfect. Dead spots which should have jokes in them occasionally interrupt the film's flow, the film occasionally takes on an excessively silly tone (although it is difficult to walk the tightrope in something like this), and the division between the world trapped in the 20's and our own time is never clearly demarcated. (Johnny has a mother and a few friends who are similarly temporally dislocated.) Still, thanks to Frazier's wonderful performance, this film delivers 78 minutes of fast-paced, charming froth. Don't let its lack of hype fool you: "Man of the Century" is easily the film of the weekend.

The last line of this review got stolen to become the headline when it went into the Diamondback. I hadn't yet figured out that sometimes the best way to give the flavor of a comedy is to just describe a few minutes of it as vividly as you can. This hurts the review. The opening sequence, in which he shaves, makes breakfast, etc. with 20s implements and then walks past a dreadlocked bootleg CD salesperson, would have been a good one to describe. I swear this film is completely charming, though.

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