Man On The Moon Review
Milos Forman (Amadeus, One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest) has always been a favorite director of mine. When I heard he was doing a biopic about Andy Kauffman, it sounded promising, especially with Jim Carrey aboard. While Man On The Moon captures Andy Kauffman perfectly, the film feels as staged as some of Kauffman's acts. The story follows the late Andy Kauffman (Jim Carrey) throughout his career. We see him singing the MIghty Mouse tune, doing Elvis impressions, as well as performing a strange foreign character, later named Latka. Latka of course was Andy's most famous character on TAXI, but he believes otherwise. In fact, that was Kauffman's greatest struggle, coping with the fact that Latka was his greatest comedic act with audiences. Of course not everybody liked him. Some people hated him, others thought he was a genius, but either way no one understood him. That's what made Kauffman so appealing to an audience, his originality. He does go overboard by wrestling women, but he just wanted to entertain people in a different fashion. This is indeed a very informative movie about Andy Kauffman. Jim Carrey is absolutely flawless as he potrays the comedian. Every facial expression and voice tone is right on the money. Carrey obviously did his research. He undoubtedly deserves an Oscar nod, especially since he was the only one keeping the film alive. It's unfortunate to see Carrey's talented wasted on a somewhat dull biopic. Sure it's interesting, but the pacing is dull. It's hard to get a feeling of realism here, because it's too staged, like many of Andy's acts. It's quite frankly better to watch a real documentary to get a sense of why he did what he did. There really was no point for Milos Forman to direct this, because it's well pointless. If Andy himself saw this, he would probably be laughing. It's more like an ode to Kauffman, so we can try to understand him a little better, but it doesn't work. Nothing is explained as to what drove him to be so different. Even as a child we see him performing to his kid sister, but why? Everything's a mystery here, and it leaves us puzzled. There's far too many unanswered questions that leaves viewers furious and flat out irritated. There's just no reason for making this film period. As I said earlier, Jim Carrey was great. He really showed us what Kauffman was like up close and personal, but the writers didn't give him enough depth. That's not his fault at all, but he would have easily been handed an Oscar if that occurred. The rest of the cast (including Danny De Vito, Courtney Love) did their jobs, but everyone and everything is outdone by Carrey. Even director Milos Forman felt as if he were awed by Carrey. Speaking of Forman I have no idea why he choose this movie. It seems so simple for his type of tastes, but I guess he needed a hit after his last dude (The People Vs. Larry Flynt). Another honorable mention is the soundtrack. R.E.M fans will especially be pleased, that the song Man On The Moon is more meaningful than ever. You will never hear the song, the same way again. Good stuff. R.E.M's score is also great as well. It's possibly the best score this year, right behind Red Violin. It fits perfectly. Man On The Moon isn't a great picture, but it is somewhat empty. It needed more than just a brilliant performance by Carrey. Maybe next time a biopic comes out, it won't feel as staged or at least have a decent story constructed around facts. Grade: B- to a C+
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