Man on the Moon 4 Stars (Out of 4) Reviewed by Mac VerStandig critic@moviereviews.org http://www.moviereviews.org January 1, 2000
---A copy of this review can be found at http://www.moviereviews.org/man_on_the_moon.htm ---
---Those of you in the Portland, Maine area can hear Mac VerStandig's film reviews every Friday morning on the 98.9 The Point morning show.---
Man on the Moon is a brilliant movie that tells you absolutely nothing about its subject. At the end of two hours you are no closer to understanding what made Andy Kaufman (Jim Carrey) so zany, innovative or genius. Rather, you come away with a complete comprehension and subsequent newly found appreciation of the man's work.
"Hello, I am Andy and I would like to thank you for coming to my movie. I wish it was better" is the opening line of Man on the Moon. Soon you learn that Andy (Jim Carrey) wishes it was better because, once all the bologna was done away with, the movie is now finished. Credits role, you are instructed to go home and the screen goes black. Anyone that gets up, demands a refund or even thinks of heading for an exit at this juncture becomes the punch-line of the film's first joke, one that would make Mr. Kaufman proud. Soon Andy is back on screen and inviting you to at least attempt to understand his career by watching the biography that follows.
Kaufman's roots are the same as most comedians': at home, with family looking on. Years later Kaufman is bombing at an improvisational comedy club because, despite a radically different type of audience, his act hasn't changed from his days as a bedroom performer. Tapping his guitar and making funny sounds, Andy soon gets a clear message from the manager: get with it or get out. Andy returns with a dead-on Elvis impression that is definitely with it.
Like many stars, Kaufman is discovered in the aforementioned humble night club environment. Agent George Shapiro (Danny DeVito) doesn't take long to get his new client on Saturday Night Live and a little show called Taxi (for those of you still scratching your head as to exactly who this Kaufman guy was, he played Latka Gravas on the hit series whose cast returns to play themselves here, minus DeVito who is obviously occupied otherwise). Kaufman begins to perform in many different arenas with unheard of material. Whether it be wrestling women, disrupting a live TV show or taking the audience at Carnegie Hall out for milk and cookies; Kaufman ventures where few have previously gone and soars to the top in the process. But everything that goes up must come down.
Academy Award winning director Milos Forman helms this project with experience in both insanity and reality having also done One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Amadeus and The People Vs. Larry Flynt. Here is joined by screenwriters Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski who penned The People Vs. Larry Flynt (supporting actress Courtney Love, giving a delicious performance in a limited role here, is also an alumni from the pornographer's bio-pic). There is little doubt that Forman and the writers will be nominated for Academy Awards.
The other person who will likely be in The Shrine Auditorium on Oscar night is Jim Carrey. Once considered a funny-faced comedian doomed to a career of potty-mouth fart-fests, Carrey suddenly shows up here with one of the greatest dramatic performances of our time. Much like Robin Williams, Carrey's new trend (with the primarily dramatic The Truman Show in the not to distant past) seems to be playing funny people in serious movies.
Andy Kaufman probably died in 1984. Some people are of the opinion that he is still very much alive, and Man on the Moon actually provides a very nice "out-clause" should that ever prove to be true. Regardless, Kaufman's public recognition was at an all time low on May 16, 1984 and has hardly risen since. This film will likely project his name into household status once again, perhaps permanently.
Although Man on the Moon may not win battles at the box office or even on Oscar night, although it certainly deserves to, the movie will likely be one of only a handful from 1999 that is still fresh in minds several years down the road. Andy Kaufman aimed to give his audience an experience they would never forget, and Carrey and Forman do just that in Man on the Moon.
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