The Man of the Year

"Even losers get to win sometimes."

2003 1h 44m PT

👍

6.7

SOLID

🔥

100%

CERTIFIED FRESH

⭐

7.1

IMDB

★6.7TMDB · 89🍅100%Rotten Tomatoes★7.1IMDB · 3,078

DramaCrimeThriller

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Maiquél has lost a bet and dyed his hair blond. This seemingly innocuous event triggers a head-on collision with destiny in which he goes from nobody to hero to outlaw — all in 24 hours.

“Even losers get to win sometimes.”

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Where to watch · US

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Cast

Murilo Benício
Máiquel
Cláudia Abreu
Cledir
Natália Lage
Érica
Jorge Dória
Dr. Carvalho
Paulo Moska
Enoque
André Gonçalves
Galego
Lázaro Ramos
Marcão
Perfeito Fortuna
Robinson

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: José Henrique Fonseca
Writers: Patrícia Mello, Rubem Fonseca
Languages: Spanish, Portuguese
Countries: Brazil

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 23 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 2 languages: Spanish, Portuguese.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by José Henrique Fonseca, shot by Breno Silveira. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Dado Villa-Lobos. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Sérgio Mekler shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Murilo Benício and Cláudia Abreu and Natália Lage carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Even losers get to win sometimes.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0312773 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

José Henrique Fonseca directs. Breno Silveira behind the camera. Dado Villa-Lobos scores. Sérgio Mekler cuts. Produced in Brazil. Dialogue in Spanish, Portuguese.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Released 23 years ago.
2Dialogue crosses 2 languages: Spanish, Portuguese.
3Directed by José Henrique Fonseca, shot by Breno Silveira. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by Dado Villa-Lobos. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor Sérgio Mekler shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Murilo Benício and Cláudia Abreu and Natália Lage carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "Even losers get to win sometimes.".
8IMDB entry: tt0312773 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Only 89 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

The technical file

Cinematography: Breno Silveira
Original score: Dado Villa-Lobos
Editing: Sérgio Mekler
Production design: Kiti Duarte
Costume design: Cláudia Kopke
Makeup / hair: Juliana Mendes
Runtime: 104 min · 1h 44m
Status: Released
Original language: PT
IMDB: The Man of the Year (2003)
Rotten Tomatoes: 100% 🍅 Fresh
IMDB rating: 7.1/10 · 3,078 votes

Awards

8 wins & 17 nominations

Also by

José Henrique Fonseca

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

Silverstein2022-01-01
★ 5/10
O Homem do Ano starts with a fantasy-come-true: Máiquel (Murilo Benício) shoots local hoodlum Suel (Wagner Moura) in the back, killing him, but rather than get into trouble, Máiquel is hailed a hero by his neighbours. He goes on to become a minor celebrity as people leave gifts for him for his "heroic deed", not the least of which is a piglet that he names Bill. Máiquel gains a girlfriend in Cledir (Cláudia Abreu) and an admirer/patron in Dr. Carvalho (Jorge Dória), a dentist. The hero's life becomes more complicated when Suel's very young girlfriend Érica (Natália Lage) insists that Máiquel give her a place to stay since he killed her boyfriend, and Dr. Carvalho enlists him to take out the man who allegedly raped his daughter. This movie is at its strongest when it's setting up the pieces on the board. We wonder where Máiquel's life is headed as no one seems terribly bothered by his taking a human life. His becoming a killer for hire seems only to result in reward with no downside. Máiquel appears to understand that murder is wrong, but it's not something that keeps him up at night. Rather, he's more concerned about whether or not to marry Cledir who has become pregnant with his child and getting himself an above-board job. It's only when Máiquel becomes a successful hitman and gets his friends to help out that he begins to suffer setbacks. One of those involves Érica finding religion either because she feels guilty for being with a killer or because she doesn't get enough attention or perhaps both. The appearance of religion in this movie attempts to show how corrupted Máiquel has become as he resorts to violence to deal with a pastor. Máiquel also has trouble with the law when police from outside his area start to investigate his friends. The challenges Máiquel faces in the latter part of the film are nowhere near as interesting as his entry into the world of murder. The surreal responses he receives to the killing of Suel give the story momentum as we wonder what's going to happen next in this bizarro world and if Máiquel will ever see justice for murdering a man. The issues he faces as he scales the social ladder are more typical of a crime drama and don't feel as fresh the film's setup. The third act is particularly troublesome since Máiquel essentially blames others for his problems and sets out to "right wrongs" in the only way he knows how. Máiquel seems to have no awareness of what he's become or his own culpability, making the ending rather problematic. Needless to say, O Homem do Ano is not the type of movie you want to show to someone impressionable because it's very easy to take away the wrong lessons from it.

Production companies