Man on the Moon
Man on the Moon, the story of Andy Kaufman, is a fascinating film about one of the most bizarre comedians of the 1980's. As played by Jim Carrey in an eerily faithful interpretation, we learn that Kaufman and his writing partner, Bob Zmuda, were more interested in making themselves laugh by dreaming up new ways to irritate and shock people.
True, Andy Kaufman's persona was so peculiar that many people may avoid the film entirely, but Jim Carrey's portrayal is not to be missed. While his performance in The Truman Show was hardly a stretch and highly overrated, not awarding him an Oscar this time around will be the biggest misdeed since Henry Fonda lost out for The Grapes of Wrath.
As the film traces Kaufman's rather quick rise to fame, the script weaves together a series of vignettes depicting his antics on Saturday Night Live, the Merv Griffin Show and David Letterman.
But Kaufman is best known for the five seasons he starred on Taxi, playing foreign man-boy Latka Gravas. Although he hated sitcoms, calling them "the lowest form of entertainment", it was a role Andy reluctantly accepted when created specifically for him. These sequences feature members of the show's original cast (minus Tony Danza), playing themselves 20 years ago.
Former Taxi castmate Danny DeVito, however, instead plays a major role as Kaufman's agent, and the always compelling Courtney Love is rather wasted in the film's second half as Andy's girlfriend. In other inspired casting, viewers will notice a virtual plethora of familiar character actors and television personalities from the past and present.
A great deal of time is also spent depicting Kaufman's alter ego, the offensive lounge lizard Tony Clifton (whom he successfully passed off as an entirely different person), as well as his obsession with wrestling matches against women.
Forever in search of the ultimate prank, Kaufman's sense of humor was considered by many to be warped and grotesque. Described by one television executive as "artsy fartsy", Kaufman's brand of humour may have been shocking for its time, but has now become rather common. Seemingly, he enjoyed the catcalls more than the applause. But the script fails to take us inside Kaufman's head, as one never learns what made him tick. In all fairness, however, that may very well be something that no one will ever know.
Directed by the dependable Milos Forman, Man on the Moon is entertaining and absorbing, but surprisingly not funny. Things fall apart when Andy (a non-smoker) announces he has lung cancer -- even his own family thought it was another one of his jokes. His whole illness is handled rather cautiously, briefly emulating Beaches before wrapping things up on an inspiring note. But perhaps it was inevitable that Kaufman would die so young; with all that manic energy, he was bound to burn out quickly. Rating: 7 out of 10.