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MAN ON THE MOON
Directed by Milos Forman
Written by Scott Alexander & Larry Karaszewski
Starring Jim Carrey, Danny DeVito,
Courtney Love, and Tony Clifton
My advice: if you remember Andy at all, this movie is brilliant
Rating:  our of
Mark my words. Jim Carrey will be nominated for this one. I
so want to see him win. I just want to see Andy pick up the award.
In an interview I saw a week or so ago, a reporter asked an actor from the film what it was like working with Jim.
He replied that he didn't know. Jim never came to the set. Only Andy was there. Once you see Jim wrap Andy so finely
around his form, you won't doubt for a minute that this man knew exactly what he was doing.
I remember Andy Kaufman. I remember laughing at his Mighty Mouse on Saturday Night Live, I remember the ever lovable
Latka on Taxi, and I also remember hating him when things began to look as if they had gone horribly wrong. In
fact, I was one of those folks who "voted" him off Saturday Night Live. See the movie. The explanation
is there.
Little did I know, hating him is exactly what Andy wanted all along.
Andy Kaufman was a comic genius. He effortlessly beat his audience into submission, suckered us with his twisted
humor and left all of those that knew him "well" missing his insanity dearly.
If you really don't know who Andy Kaufman was, this movie might mean nothing to you. I imagine quite a few folks
will simply get on up and walk out. But for those of us that had even the slightest brush with this odd and difficult
man, this film will punch you hard in the gut with a big hand of revelation.
The opening of Man On The Moon is so clever I began laughing right then and never stopped. Jim Carrey is beyond
amazing in the title role of Kaufman. For those of you who were startled to see some drama emerging from this rubber-faced
man in The Truman Show, this movie will blow your socks right off. Jim Carrey stands in the shadow of Tom Hanks
as another truly gifted comedian who - after this - can no doubt breath life into any man on film, and probably
will do just that.
It's clear when you see this film that Andy was a master manipulator. By the time of his death in 1984 from a rare
form of lung cancer, this man had snookered them all. Even those folks who felt they were in on the joke were oft
amazed to find themselves scratching their heads in bemusement as they realized Andy had taken them along for yet
another merry ride.
Cleverly supported by Danny DeVito as his agent, we're also introduced to Andy's life long partner in crime, Bob
Zmuda (Paul Giamatti), and the woman who, after wrestling him live on Merv Griffin, cleverly wrestled his heart
as well. Courtney Love, in the love interest role, plays the part sweetly and with heart warming conviction.
I'm not going into great detail here, Andy's work was far to befuddling to even attempt to put into words, but
I guarantee if you remember Andy, whether you loved him or you hated him, you're walking out of this film with
a whole new perspective on the man.
Jim, my hat's off to you on this one, man. You did Andy proud.
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