Man on the Moon

Released 1999
Stars Jim Carrey, Danny DeVito, Paul Giamatti, Courtney Love, Jerry Lawler
Directed by Milos Forman

During his lifetime, Andy Kaufman was regarded by fans as a comic genius and by detractors as an out-of-control lunatic. Most of the American public simply didn't understand him, and the numerous outrageous antics of his later life alienated many of those who had initially enjoyed him in the role of Latka Gravas in the TV series Taxi. In 1982, Kaufman was ousted from Saturday Night Live when a phone-in poll gave him less than a 30% favorable rating. Opinions of Kaufman were deeply divided at the time of his 1984 death from lung cancer. In subsequent years, as often happens with performers who suffer an untimely demise, his reputation has been rehabilitated, and it's difficult to find anyone who doesn't remember him fondly. Man on the Moon, with its title taken from the R.E.M. song, is director Milos Forman's unabashedly favorable look at Kaufman's public years, and may represent the final chapter in the comedian's restoration to a platform of affection and respect.

The success of Man on the Moon rests squarely on the shoulders of Jim Carrey, who, with this performance, completes the transition from off-the-wall comedian to serious actor that he began in The Truman Show. Not only does Carrey imitate Kaufman almost perfectly (including matching his trademark "Thank you very much"), but he employs this mimickry in the service of a compelling performance. The forcefulness with which the film conveys Kaufman's character is as much a function of Carrey's portrayal as it is of the script from which he is working. This is a role that Carrey, a lifelong Kaufman fan, wanted desperately, and, once he got it, he poured every ounce of his talent into his work. An Academy Award nomination is warranted [but not received].

Summary by James Berardinelli