AllMovie

The gag of a man unstuck in time dates back at least to Mark Twain's A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, but usually the protagonist is aware of the disconnect. Johnny Twenties, played by producer and co-screenwriter Gibson Frazier, hasn't a clue that his Prohibition-era patter is 70 years out of step. After a while, it becomes clear that Frazier and his co-writer (and director) Adam Abraham are never going to let Johnny "get it," but that circumstances will conspire for him to win the girl, capture a gang of crooks, and dance the night away to the music of his era, as played by Bobby Short and a really swell jazz band. That's a cute premise, but even at 80 minutes, Man of the Century feels a little inflated. Despite an energetic performance by Frazier, he and Abraham don't create a story that can sustain the joke without repeating themselves a few too many times.