"Man on the Moon" -- Andy Kaufman in a Wrestling Match - yeah - yeah - yeah - yeah
To me, Andy Kaufman was some semi-talented actor who spent a few years on a show called Taxi. I never really watched the show, except when I was channel surfing and happened to catch it for a minute or two. I couldn't even tell you any of the characters on the show - that is, except for Latka, played by Andy Kaufman. He stood out. He was a shy-looking, diminutive actor who spoke like he had just inhaled dangerous amounts of helium. And I always asked myself, 'what's the deal with this guy?'
"Man on the Moon" doesn't try to answer this question. It doesn't try to be a detailed biography of Kaufman. Rather, it is more like a visual diary that illustrates a few of the more unique chapters in this performer's life. And unique is a very good word. Kaufman's oeuvre of wacky performances include a wicked transformation into Elvis; an affable foreign mechanic named Latka; a crass lounge singing alter ego, and a trash talking wrestler who proclaimed himself to be the Inter-Gender champion because no woman could beat him. Kaufman was considered brilliant by a few and enigmatic by some, and eventually scorned by many.
But his brand of humor was not even supposed to be humor at all. Instead, Kaufman would say that they were experiments in behavior. He was sometimes funny, sometimes mean-spirited, sometimes edgy, and sometimes tasteless. But despite his many facades, he was always sincere at trying to give the public something unexpected. He wanted to shock the audience and to elicit genuine emotion. His philosophy was not about making people laugh. It was about making people react. The result was that some would roll in the aisle with laughter while the person seated next to him would be scratching his head in wonderment.
"MOTM" stars Jim Carrey, who is showing moviegoers that he's becoming much more than a 2-dimensional comedian who relies on squeezing his butt cheeks and molding his rubbery face. Carrey ably transforms himself into the Kaufman persona. Though Kaufman has great schemes that he wants to set in motion, he is not always the sole architect. Helping him are is long-time friend, Bob (Paul Giamatti), an agent (Danny DeVito), and an extremely patient girlfriend (Courtney Love). Yet, Andy is always engaging in his own machinations, frequently even catching his closest friends and family members off guard. It gets to the point that even the National Enquirer ignores rumors about him because they've 'been burned too many times before.'
In some ways, Kaufman was an immature boy trapped in a man's body. In other ways, he may have been considered a visionary performer. But I think that if he lived in the 1990s, he would have been considered a very capable performance artist. This film gave me a new sense of respect for him. He was definitely fighting an uphill battle, but perhaps opened the door for people like Howard Stern and helped to make 'Professional' wrestling more mainstream. In Kaufman, there is an undeniable sweetness to him, despite his need to shock and to stay one step ahead of the audience.
I am recommending the film for two reasons. The first is because Jim Carrey delivers an Oscar-worthy performance, who not only does a hauntingly real imitation of the late Kaufman but also shows unusual dramatic depth. It's difficult to be a serious clown, but Carrey shows great restraint. Also, credit Director Milos Foreman for being able to present a film whose tone accurately mimics Kaufman's unpredictability and for giving us a thoughtful look into why Kaufman probably deserved more credit than he received.
Grade: B+ if you like Andy Kaufman or Jim Carrey. B for everyone else.
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