Review: Man on the Moon (1999)

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Man on the Moon

Rating

Director

Milos Forman

Screenplay

Scott Alexander, Larry Karaszewski

Length

1h 58m

Starring

Jim Carrey, Danny DeVito, Courtney Love, Paul Giamatti, Gerry Becker, Leslie Lyles, George Shapiro, Richard Belzer, Patton Oswalt, Melanie Vesey, Michael Kelly, Vincent Schiavelli, Peter Bonerz, Michael Villani, Bob Zmuda, Tracey Walter

MPAA Rating

Review

“Man on the Moon” is a terrific surprise from director Milos Forman and a must see for adults of all ages. It’s a tantalizing look at the life of a celebrity whose comedic talents were both varied and bizarre.

Ok, so I began the review how it should end. That’s how “Man on the Moon” begins itself. Jim Carrey in the skin of Andy Kaufman steps onto screen in black and white and plays a record to show the cast from the closing credits of the film. He then tells us he’s done this so that the people in the audience who wouldn’t understand him would leave.

Then we head straight into his life as a small child doing interviews to imaginary TV audiences while jumping up and down on his bed. His father chastises him and says that it has to be a live audience to be what he wants it to be, so he grabs his sister and drags her into his room.

Jump forward in time and we see Kaufman on stage doing unoriginal, unfunny comedy before a hometown crowd. After being fired we jump forward a little more where Kaufman tries some of the tips his previous employer suggested before the Improv, it starts out rocky with no one quite understanding what’s up with him. Then he goes into a dead-on Elvis impression that makes the crowd go wild.

In the audience is George Shapiro (Danny DeVito), the man who would soon become Kaufman’s manager. From there on, we see Kaufman on Taxi, how he got on the show. We also meet his alter ego Tony Clifton, a loud-mouthed, obnoxious character that ridicules the audience without cause or warning.

From there on, Kaufman presents a side of himself that is at once generous and the rest of the time insane. The audience never understood Kaufman’s underlying idea of what was funny and what was not and perhaps that’s why Kaufman remains a comic genius. His astute understanding of audience expectations and how to get the audience riled up is comparable to the great circus showman P.T. Barnum.

Forman’s direction is heavily underplayed, but he peeks out from behind the solid camera work occasionally to add his own style. He lets Carrey work his magic across the screen.

Carrey makes Kaufman a sympathetic and understandable lout. It feels like he’s carrying Kaufman’s spirit throughout the film and his performance is terrifically accurate. When Kaufman is a woman-wrestling, South-insulting brute he seems undeniably loathsome, yet interesting. When he’s a caring, cancer-stricken human he’s sympathetic.

Courtney Love as Andy Kaufman’s love interest Lynne Margulies has nothing to do in this film, but provide a few moments of understanding in Kaufman’s life, but is completely unnecessary. It is quite difficult to believe that these two would fall in love or be together at all. DeVito is sensational as usual and Paul Giamatti as Kaufman’s longtime friend and collaborator Bob Zmuda is priceless.

Overall, “Man on the Moon” is a film about understanding Andy Kaufman’s eccentricity, but is also about the triumph of a man over his own hindrances. Even when faced with death, Kaufman stood strong and kept a strong heart.

If Carrey isn’t nominated for an Oscar, it will be one of the greatest injustices since he wasn’t nominated for “The Truman Show.” He continues to prove that when he leaves his rubber-face, gross-out humor behind, he can be a terrific, accomplished actor. Now with three master performances under his belt (the first was the TV movie “Doing Time on Maple Drive”), Carrey has moved into an A-list of actors whose performances are three-dimensional, believable and indistinguishable from any other.

Awards Prospects

Carrey gives easily one of the best performances of the year and should find himself with an Oscar nomination if the Academy can get by his other film personalities and if they feel bad for not giving him the nod he deserved for “Truman Show.” DeVito would be a contender in any other year where there aren’t as many worthy supporting performances. Forman and the film would also be in contention if the critics and audiences weren’t so quietly indifferent to the film. A screenplay nomination could be in order and possibly one for original score.