MAN ON THE MOON

1999

So, here we are with Jim Carrey giving what is supposed to be the performance of his career, re-creating the life of the quirky, edgy and always unpredictable Andy Kaufman. But the interesting thing about this movie is just how little about the real Andy that we actually get to see. At least 80% of the movie is simply Andy's routines and the many characters he performed. And having not been old enough to remember Andy during the early eighties when he became popular, it was definitely a learning experience for me. The guy was a complete jerk. But, I never really felt like I got to see the real Andy (and if I did, I must've missed it). And as good as Carrey is, I never really stopped thinking that it was Carrey up on the screen and not Kaufman. Kaufman's antics as Tony Clifton and with wrestling women are hilarious at first, but get tiresome as they're repeated. Overall, director Milos Foreman did the best he could with the little story that was there, but the best part of the movie is in the end when the last hoax is on Andy.

2.5* Stars

CDF

Many years ago, I saw Andy Kaufman in live performances twice, and I thought that he was an obnoxious, self-indulgent brat. I feel the same way about this film. It's just another Andy Kaufman "happening," with half the audience buying it, and the other half feeling taken in by a fraud. I was in the latter half, then and now. As written, directed, and acted, we learn nothing more about the real Andy Kaufman than we knew from his public performances. We never find out what made him "tick." Was it really all just a big act, or was he really psychotic, as I believed he was? Jim Carrey does such an excellent impersonation of Kaufman that I disliked HIM, as much as I disliked the original; that's a compliment of sorts! What's next, the Jerry Springer story?

2 Stars 

NJB