This is a great farcical, modern day story. When watching this film I was reminded of the Marx Brothers, some of the early Crosby and Hope films and of course film noir. It also has some of the elements of stage drama a la Moliere. The main character, Johnny Twennies, is indeed the hero and is uniquely performed by Gibson Frazier in a throwback to Bogart,Jimmy Stewart and a dash of Groucho Marx.That is the only way to describe this unusual character.The music in the film is great and is reminiscent of some of Woody Allens films.They are from the jazz age and are legitimized by the appearances Lester Lanin and Bobby Short. Bobby Short is sadly no longer with us having passed away just recently, but performs at the end of this film in its final scene.Mr.Short has a bit role in the film but is worth seeing. I saw this film in 2001 on cable but did not catch the title at the time. Last year a friend remarked that he had seen a weird and quirky film with a character named Johnny Twennies and knew the title. I had to have the film and rented it several times. Yesterday, after hearing of Bobby Short's death, I wandered into a local video/music store and perused the DVDs and there it was, up front and I purchased it. If you need to see something that is truly unique, albeit with 'classic' elements telling and showing the story, Man of the Century is it.