THE MAN OF THE YEAR
/
2003
DIRECTOR:JOSE HENRIQUE FONSECA
CINEMATOGRAPHER:BRENO SILVEIRA
WRITER:RUBEM FONSECA(screenplay) /PATRICIA MELO (novel)
BUDGET: ?
GROSS: ?
Maiquel sees himself as a jobless loser and unattractive to the point where he has always hated looking at himself in the mirror. But when he loses a soccer bet and has to dye his hair blonde, everything changes. He feels like a different person. Which gives him the balls to ask out the hot girl that did his dye job - but it also leads his life down a very violent path.
Set in the violent streets of Rio de Janeiro, The Man Of The Year (O Homem do Ano) sets Maiquel on his new path when he walks into his local bar - to show that he lived up to his part of the bet - and gets laughed at by a local criminal. From there, one action leads to another and.... Well, just watch the movie.
As the film progresses Maiquel becomes more and more at ease with doing violence. But there is also a period in the film where he must deal with that new side of himself and his desire to be, as he says, "normal" (married, have a kid, etc...).
Scarface, Goodfellas... The Man Of The Year isn't the first film we’ve seen about a small-time guy who enters a violent world, gains power and has to deal with things going from good, to great, to bad. However, for me, it also brought to mind such films as Donnie Brasco and The Assignment and the similar themes of the seduction of power and the way violence gets easier the more you do it.
Although there are some formulaic aspects of the script, the film definitely stands on its own. Due in no small part to the strong directing, editing and the performances - especially Murilo Benicio, who plays Maiquel.