Man on the Moon (1999) Reviewed by Eugene Novikov http://www.ultimate-movie.com/ Member: Online Film Critics Society
Starring Jim Carrey, Danny DeVito, Courtney Love, Paul Giamatti. Directed by Milos Forman. Rated R.
Despite hopes by many, myself included that the new "biopic" Man on the Moon might shed some light on the enigmatic existence of comedian Andy Kaufman, the man remains a mystery. This is less of a biography than it is a series of reenactments. Director Milos Forman, the man responsible for superb films like One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and The People vs. Larry Flynt delivers a film startingly lacking in insight, less of a look at a comedy legend than a quick fast-forward through his career.
Andy Kaufman wasn't a performer. He didn't just perform his act, he lived it. Though he himself stated that he wasn't a comedian, the whole world , including his audience, was a joke to him. He didn't so much aim to make people laugh as to garner some sort of reaction, whether it be shock, resentment or disgust. He pulled stunts like wrestling women and reading "The Great Gatsby" in front of an audience of college students until they all left the theater. Sure, some of his schtick was funny -- the "Mickey Mouse" lip-synch was hysterical -- but a lot of the stuff he did was considered obnoxious. More than anything else, that's what he was to people: obnoxious. And he liked it.
This movie very briefly chronicles Andy's relationships with his manager George Shapiro (Danny DeVito), his girlfriend (Courtney Love) and his favorite writer Bob Zmuda (Paul Giamatti). These relationships are shown abbreviated and watered down in order to make room for the elaborate reenactments that take up a good 80% of Man on the Moon's running time.
I have to admit that I enjoyed parts this movie, especially Jim Carrey's virtuoso "performance", but the whole time I wondered why it was ever made. I could have grabbed an Andy Kaufman highlight reel and watched it with the same exact result. Kaufman's Mickey Mouse and wrestling routines are redone with striking attention to detail, but for what purpose? Did Forman decide to pull a Gus Van Sant and film a shot-by-shot remake of Kaufman's career? What, exactly, is the point?
Jim Carrey is dead-on amazing in his impersonation of Kaufman, from the eye-rotations and the voice down to the most minute movements of the body. He is fun to watch as an impersonator rather than a performer almost like we're watching a feature-length mockery rather than a movie. I don't suppose that's a fair statement, even though Man on the Moon cheesy feel can, at times, make it seem like a mockery. I believe that the movie was made with the best intentions at heart. It works as a celebration of Andy Kaufman's life (after all, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery) and it works as a method for Jim Carrey to show off his acting chops (though as far as I'm concerned his snubbed performance in last year's sole masterpiece The Truman Show was much better).
I dunno. Maybe there was more here than I chose to analyze. It's doubtful. I look at the glee with which the highlights of Kaufman's career are recreated in this movie and it doesn't make sense to me. We get a cursory look inside his life -- his attitude towards his insanely popular sitcom Taxi, his relationships with his girlfriend and co- workers -- but Milos Forman refuses to go any further. There is nothing about what made this oddball personality tick. What were his motivations? Considering the high expectations so many people had for Man on the Moon, this overblown highlight reel is even more of a disappointment. At one point in the movie, Kaufman's girlfriend tells him "There is no real you," to which he responds "Oh yeah, I forgot." Any biography of this man had damn well better either challenge or explore that statement. Man on the Moon does neither.
Grade: C
©1999 Eugene Novikov
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