Man of the Century

I felt bad, to a point, that I barely missed this film in theatres this past fall when it made its rather small rounds throughout the country. In actuality, its release was so small that only one theatre in all of the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area was showing it, and it disappeared two weeks after its release. Given the premise of Johnny Twennies, a colorful early 1900s reporter stereotype, placed in the late-20^th Century world of today was funny enough, but was added to by the photography (entirely in black and white) and the musical accompaniment (a 1920's jazz-style score plus songs). It's a shame more people couldn't get the chance to see the film in its first run, but may enjoy this rather strange comedy in the comfort of their own homes via video.

The score itself is intertwined between several previously recorded period tracks, some off of acoustically ancient recordings and some from the original artists performed for the film. Michael Weiner composed the original score, which fits beautifully with the above-mentioned recordings, keeping with the style and spirit of the film. It's a fun score, if you understand where it's coming from and what it's trying to do, otherwise, it's just viewed as an old album (which in essence, is the goal). The vocal arrangements add to the insanity, setting a "past" counterpoint to the "present" story's reality, including Ian Whitcomb's final track, "The Twenties Are Here To Stay". Most Hollywood treatments of a film of this theme would be more condescending, both in presentation of the story but also in applying musical accompaniment. This comedy was perfectly helmed by director Adam Abraham and co-writer and co-producer Gibson Frazier, a hard task for relative newcomers. The selection of Michael Weiner was a cherry on the sundae, and I hope to see more from this crazy clan of filmmakers.