MovieChat Forums > Man of the Century (1999) Discussion > A Screwball Comedy For The Modern Age

A Screwball Comedy For The Modern Age


This movie is quite charming. It combines the best elements of screwball comedies from the 30's (yes, Johnny's lives in a 20's frame of mind, but many of the elements that made the comedies of the 1930's so great were present in the early talkies). But it also throws in a slightly surrealistic modern twist by having the main character live as a conscious anachronism in modern day NYC. It definitely owes a debt to Woody Allen ("Purple Rose of Cairo" and "Zelig" come to mind), but then it goes off and does its own thing, which winds up as entertaining.

Oh yeah, and Bobby Short in the movie was awesome. His performance at the end was marvelous. :)

reply