Movie Review -- Man on the Moon (1999)
Usually I find Jim Carrey's comedies to be forced goofiness where Jim Carrey uses his antics just because he's Jim Carrey and not because they make sense within the context of a movie. His most recent movie Fun with Dick and Jane is a good example. However, this is not the case for Man on the Moon, where I believe that Carrey was casted perfectly for Andy Kaufman because in the movie he becomes Andy Kaufman.
The movie chronicles Kaufman as early as his childhood, where we see Andy was born to be a performer. What exactly kind of a performer he was meant to be was not answered until decades later when he wins over a crowd at a comedy club by pure chance, thanks to a unique stage voice followed up by an Elvis impression. Events like these help introduce the eccentric character of Kaufman, especially for those who have never heard of him. Your opinion on Kaufman will be determined VERY early, so take it as a warning.
The genius of the movie lies within how annoying Kaufman is, because that's how he always played games on people. A wrestling league where he only fights women, constantly staging fights on live television, rigging tracking on television programs nationwide, the bigger the joke the more fun for him. It also helps to have a nerdy sense of humor, which everyone surely knows I'm guilty of having. If you come into this movie with a dead serious attitude expect to be treated as a victim of a major Andy Kaufman prank.
The hilarity goes to the maximum with the integration of the mysterious Tony Clifton, which was a character shared between Kaufman and his best friend Bob Zmuda. At first I found Tony Clifton to be nothing but painful to deal with, only to realize it was Andy's way to add some flavor to the performing arts. The first several times I watched this movie I would always want to skip the Clifton scenes, apart from maybe a couple "Taxi" cameos and backstage incidents. Eventually it grew on me, I'm not sure how, but it became fun to see everybody get mad at somebody who didn't exist.
Just like the real life of Andy, the ending to this movie is anything but funny. The ironic full circle ending is harsh because for almost two hours this movie invites you into the all fun and play world of Andy and suddenly the fun is over. I may even go so far as to find the performance of Courtney Love to be moving, as hard as that is to admit. Unlike several biopics, this movie is not full of the seemingly insurmountable struggles of a famous person. Andy had problems just like anyone, but the stoic portrayal prevents an overwhelming not to mention overbearing sadness. This perhaps makes the ending even more harsh to watch, even as Andy sings his last song.
A