Man On The Moon

[Foxbat]

Starring Jim Carrey, Danny Devito, Courtney Love & Paul Gimatti

Directed by Milos Forman



Based on a true story, Man On The Moon chronicles the life of the late Andy Kaufman. Probably best known for his role as Latka in the sit-com Taxi, this man was a stunningly original and enigmatic comic who constantly tried to push the envelope of comedy to such and extent that sometimes his audience were left bemused as the lines between the real Kaufman and his comic wit became increasingly blurred.



Through this movie, we see the development of this talent. Kaufman feels suffocated by the role of Latka but uses it to help push his own work. His speciality is fooling around with his audience’s minds. Is he serious? Is this a joke? His routines range from the foreign Elvis impersonator through to the thoroughly dislikable (and yet utterly brilliant) Tony Clifton, wrestling women and upsetting a whole American state. This film does not really tell us much about the private Kaufman but there is a moment in the movie when he goes to the Philipines in the hope of finding a faith healer to cure his cancer – he gives an ironic laugh when he realises that the healer is just another conman. After all, Kaufman has been fooling his audiences with this type of stunt for years!



Decent supporting roles from Devito as Kaufman’s agent George Shapiro, Love as Kaufman’s girlfriend and Gimatti as his best friend and co-writer help this movie along. Where it falls down a little is in the feeling that it is a little rushed. This may be due to the lack of any depth to Kaufman’s private times. Then again, perhaps there were no private times to speak of? Perhaps this is the ‘real’ Andy Kaufman? And therein lies the true enigma. It seems that nobody really knew this man – or at least knew what the actual reality of this man was. Perhaps that is why he is such a fascinating character?



At this point I have to admit that I am not a fan of Jim Carrey. For some reason I just find the guy and his movies are more irritating than funny. However, in this film his portrayal of Kaufman is immense. I may not be converted to the world according to Carrey but I have to admit that he does a fine job here and manages to portray to the viewers a man and his duality that was sometimes too clever for his own audience. It does get a little sentimental near the end but, on the whole, a fine movie.

[Circus Cranium]

I always liked Andy Kaufmann, but for some reason never had any desire to see this movie. I think it's because Jim Carrey turned into such a tool when he wasn't immediately accepted as a 'serious actor' after The Truman Show. I can't stomach him anymore.

[littlemissattitude]

I don't know. Forget the fact that I cannot tolerate Jim Carrey. I'm not a big Leonardo DiCaprio fan, but I loved "The Aviator". I have a very, very low tolerance for Tom Cruise (moving quickly into active dislike with his latest antics), but I agree that he did a wonderful job in "Born on the Fourth of July". The issue with me and this film is that I just always thought that Andy Kaufmann was an idiot. I "got" what he was trying to do; I just didn't think any of it was very funny. So I never could think of any good reason to spend the time to see this film. Just me, I suppose.

[Foxbat]

I suppose that's precisely the pitfall of comedy - some people find it funny and others do not. Harry Hill(for example) is a comedian favourite of the UK right now but I don't find anything about him funny -yet others think he is hilarious. Ah well. Vive La Difference!

[littlemissattitude]

I've never been a fan of the school of comedy where people act stupid, or like they're stupid. Like Kaufmann. Like Carrey. Like Jerry Lewis. For God's sake, like the Three Stooges. Kaufmann turned me off the very first time I ever saw him on television. He carried out the little box record player, sat it on a chair, and proceeded to lip-synch to the "Mighty Mouse" theme song. It was very obvious - to me at least - that he was trying to get people to wonder if he was serious, if he was mentally handicapped, or just goofing, or what...to make them uncomfortable and make them laugh at (not with) someone that made them feel that way. I found his work to be very manipulative, and I don't like being manipulated at all.* Anyway, that's how I read his act - perhaps I'm totally off and didn't get him in the way I thought I did. I don't know.

*Which, by the way, is the same reason that I didn't like Stephen King's novel, "Pet Semetary". I felt like my emotions were being cynically manipulated, and that made me very angry. It doesn't have anything to do with feeling something in response to a work of art. Most art of all kinds has that as at least one of it's goals. But to try to force someone into the particular type of uncomfortable feelings that came out of that novel or out of what Kaufmann did, I think, is really cheap and unnecessarily mean.

[lazygun]

Found this movie intresting,as i didn't click on who Kaufman was....then still only knew him from TAXI..and that he had died young.