IMDB Rating: 7.30, 30093 votes |
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Man on the Moon is a biographical movie on the late comedian Andy Kaufman. Kaufman, along with his role on "Taxi," was famous for being the self-declared Intergender Wrestling Champion of the world. After beating women time and time again, Jerry Lawler (who plays himself in the movie), a professional wrestler, got tired of seeing all of this and decided to challenge Kaufman to a match. In most of the matches the two had, Lawler prevailed with the piledriver, which is a move by spiking a guy head-first into the mat. In one of the most famous moments in this feud was in the early 80s when Kaufman threw coffee on Lawler on "The Late Show with David Letterman," got into fisticuffs with Lawler, and proceeded to sue NBC.Actors
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18 Comments
Very good. Funny and sad.
Just hated Andy, but loved this movie about him
is it me or is Courtney Love a complete waste of skin
Carrey is excellent in a somewhat strange movie but still good.
Strange movie, carrey does a decent job. Im not sure I liked it though.
not much that hasn’t been seen in other documentaries. carrey did a great job
Good movie about the life of a unique comic.
Andy Kaufman was simply a comic genius. He changed the genre of comedy and added his own style and wacky performances to the entertainment business. ‘Man on the Moon’ explains this through many events in Andy’s life and it does it well. Starting from his early career entertaining his younger sister to his later career as a struggling, yet determined stand-up comic. This movie shows you that setting certain goals and keeping focus on them leads you to where you want to go. No matter if your liked or not - you can create a name for yourself.
An entertaining journey through Kaufman’s life.
I saw this movie not knowing much about Andy Kaufman at all. In fact, the majority of this movie was all new to me, which is probably why I liked it more than a lot people. Just like someone else mentioned, it is more or less a run through of his life and not much in the way of explaining.
I still liked it though, mostly because I had never seen any of his acts before. I found some of them hilarious! Anyway, if you know basically everything and want to discover more about him as a person, this movie probably won’t provide everything you are looking for. Otherwise very enjoyable.
As a fan of Andy’s I felt this was an excellent film. I always felt he was always walking a fine line between madness and genius. He was a true performance artist and this movie protrayed him correctly. He never really cared what other people thought was funny just him . Even the audience wasn’t important to him . If they did not get it then that was what he was looking for and was funny to him.
funny and it mde me feel sorry for him.
No attempt to explain why Kaufman was Kaufman
An excellent review of his life, like a documentary that refuses to draw any conclusions or make a judgment. The problem is that Kaufman was a profoundly unlikeable elitist who liked to manipulate people for his own amusement. It might have been a good movie if it provided some insight into his character, the why of what he did. That’s what I went hoping but I was severely disappointed.
Carrey dead-on in "Man on The Moon"
Andy Kaufman remains as the old saying goes, "a mystery wrapped inside of an enigma." He was the most unconventional comic to ever grace a stage or an open mike because he purely challenged the whole notion of what comedy was. Comedians are known for one-liners, such as the famous Milton Berle, and punchlines - a plethora of jokes are expected to make the audience laugh. Kaufman is not someone you would accuse of taking the easy road to make people laugh - his intentions were based on showing up as the showman and nothing more. He did not tell jokes nor did he know how to tell them, and he was not a political or angry comedian like Lenny Bruce was. No, this man played the theme to "Mighty Mouse" and wrestled with women to get laughs.
"Man on the Moon" stars Jim Carrey as Andy Kaufman, showing us his early stage routines of mimicking Elvis Presley leading to his famous Latka Gravas character on the popular TV show "Taxi." His agent (played by Danny De Vito, who does not do a reprise of his "Taxi" character) is amazed by Kaufman, but has no idea how to promote such a talent, so he lends him the coveted "Taxi" role promising a "Fonzie-type" breakout character. It is no secret that Andy despised "Taxi" and caused a ruckus, often using his hateful alter-ego character, Tony Clifton, a lounge singer, to cause chaos on the set. It is also no secret that Tony become a bigger star than Andy, especially in the days of Andy wrestling with Memphis wrestler Jerry Lawler (amusingly playing himself).
The moments where Tony Clifton appears ,silencing the crowd before singing or insulting audience members, are the most outrageous and the funniest. Clifton was Andy, and sometimes Andy’s best friend and writing partner, Bob Zmuda (Paul Giamatti), was also Tony, and so this caused more confusion among audiences. How could anyone respond with a straight face to anything Clifton or Andy did on stage or on TV?
In fact, that is largely the appeal of "Man on the Moon." The film distorts reality on screen just as Andy did - we never knew what to expect from him or when he was staging fights or insults or actually doing them. The truth is that it was all staged, including the punishingly slow, one year debacle of Lawler fighting Andy on the ring or on David Letterman. That distortion or the fact that Andy was always in on the joke himself is what makes his life so speculative. Who was Andy? What kind of man was he? When was he not fooling around, and when was he being serious? There came a point when his sister did not believe that Andy had lung cancer, which he tearfully admits on stage while the audience bawls with laughter.
Carrey is so good as Andy that he disappears into the role, and it is more than just a recreation of the man or his acts - it is spookily eerie in that it really feels like Andy Kaufman is alive and well on screen. Carrey also carries scenes of tenderness beautifully such as the movie’s key line where he tearfully replies to his girlfriend’s remark "There is no real you" with "Oh, yeah, I forgot." I also like the moment where Andy is tricked by a psychic surgeon, who is actually a charlatan, into believing that his cancerous condition will be taken away - Carrey’s face shows a mixture of elation and sadness. Jim has so many good moments that an Oscar nomination should be guaranteed - we have not seen such an authentic recreation of a key figure in show business since Val Kilmer’s Jim Morrison in "The Doors."
If only the film dealt with his childhood past in more detail, especially in the days when he thought there were cameras in his bedroom walls watching his act (a reminder of Carrey’s performance in "Truman Show"). And what did his parents think of Andy’s act? Or his sister and friends, especially his girlfriend (thanklessly played by Courtney Love)? There must have been some thoughts on Andy - was he just a showman out for thrills or a genius of comedy?
"Man on the Moon" does not try to understand Andy Kaufman nor is there any attempt to. The mystique is still there, including the possibility that his lung cancer was a joke and that he will return in the year 2000 (the film makes no attempt to disprove the hoax). It is not a complete or fulfilling biography as was director Milos Forman’s last film, "The People vs. Larry Flynt," but it is a strange and entertaining experience. I have a feeling Andy would have wanted it that way.
Two hours of The Boy Who Cried Wolf..
I didn’t know who Andy Kaufman was — maybe I still don’t.
Regardless, even as a biography, this movie was a bit lacking. Wait for A&E’s biography. It will only last an hour.
That said - Jim Carrey rocked! This is the only man in the world who could pull something like this off! Courtney Love was decent too.
I was expecting a funny movie, i got an documentary instead.
Humorous look into the life of Andy Kaufman, especially fun for Kaufman fans.
Fell a little short of expectations…
Team up Jim Carrey, Milos Foreman & the story of Andy Kaufman’s life & you’ve got a huge hit, right? Well, probably, but I felt the movie lag at times and it seemed as if Milos went out of his way to get laughs. The movie is definitely entertaining and defies conventional wisdom about what a movie needs to be…but its not quite worthy of the comedian its about.
half a bubble off plumb, but quite entertaining
Jim Carrey gives an Oscar-worthy performance in this wonderful film
Man on the Moon, starring Jim Carrey, Danny DeVito, Paul Giamatti, Courtney Love, Jerry Lawler, David Letterman, Paul Shaffer, Judd Hirsch, Marilu Henner, Norm McDonald, Lorne Michaels, Jim Ross, Christopher Lloyd and Carol Kane. Directed by Milos Forman. 1999.
Reviewed by John Carroll.
"Hello my name is John and this is my review."
If you have seen any advertisements for Man on the Moon, you have probably seen this tag line, whether it be the poster, soundtrack or other memorabilia for Man on the Moon that you have seen. Either way, I figure it is fitting for this review. Andy Kaufman, despite what people may think about him, is revered among comics as one of the greatest of all time, rivaling the likes of Buster Keaton. Man on the Moon takes a look at his wild life, where the performance began and never stopped.
Andy Kaufman not only had a complex performance on stage, but had a complex life in general. And even as Lynne Margulies (Courtney Love) says to Andy, "There is no real you." And if you are looking for Man on the Moon to answer the questions Andy always brought to the table, then you are in for a shock. Aside from one or two surprises, Man on the Moon just sticks to pure Andy, and still stays just as entertaining.
Documentary-type movies always get made based on the subject at hand. People will be much more intrigued by a documentary surrounding a celebrity than a two-bit low life. Based on that, I definitely will not be looking forward to The John Carroll Story. That being said, back to Man on the Moon. The story is obviously about comic-legend Andy Kaufman. Kaufman is played by Jim Carrey, who is regarded as the comic legend of the 1990s. The resemblance between the two is uncanny. Carrey not only gets the look down cold, but all of the mannerisms as well, even Kaufman’s trademark "Tenk you veddy much." Also adding to the nostalgia is the cast of "Taxi", save Tony Danza. All in all, the movie accurately captures the Kaufman persona. It has a five minute sequence about Andy’s childhood, other than that, it jumps right into Kaufman’s comedic life.
The movie starts off like Andy Kaufman would have wanted it. In a year with so many innovative endings, Man on the Moon has both an innovative introduction and a very intriguing finale. I will not ruin them for you, but they are very Kaufman-esque and set the standard for the entire film.
Jim Carrey got snubbed last year for The Truman Show. Granted, there was no way he would have won the Oscar against the likes of Hanks and Benigni, but he definitely deserved to be there on Oscar night. Considering that, and the absolutely amazing performance he gives in Man on the Moon, it would be an absolute catastrophe if Carrey does not recieve the nomination for Man on the Moon. The buzz for the past few months is that Carrey IS Andy Kaufman. It may seem cliche’, but once you see Man on the Moon, you will be saying to yourself, "CARREY IS KAUFMAN." The presence becomes so natural that Carrey creates Kaufman to the extreme. Jim Carrey gives his best performance of his career, and could ultimately be the performance he is remembered for twenty years down the road when he recieves some sort of Lifetime Achievement Award. Kudos must go to Carrey for this unbelievable talent. Anyone who thinks The Truman Show was a fluke will definitely be converted after witnessing Carrey in Man on the Moon.
Andy Kaufman is the center of this film, and due to his profession, is probably one of the funniest dramas you will ever see. The writers, Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski, diligently stick to Kaufman’s career, recreating the comic’s funniest- and most extreme- antics. Kaufman’s career becomes much a part of the movie as does Carrey’s wonderful performance. His on-screen presence is so demanding that the supporting cast has to fight for screen time, but luckily, they utilize it.
The main supporting cast that has been billed for Man on the Moon has been Danny DeVito, who plays Andy’s manager, George Shapiro, and Courtney Love, who plays Lynne Margulies, Andy’s girlfriend. However, the most important supporting role- and surprisingly absent from the ads- is Paul Giamatti’s role as Bob Zmuda, Andy’s writer and best friend. Giamatti gives a great performance as the equally wacky Zmuda. He further brings Kaufman’s persona to life as the two partners in crime continuously deviate over how to pull one over on the crowd and to stay "one step ahead of them."
Milos Forman, who directed such critically acclaimed hits as Amadeus and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, helps bring Kaufman to life and Carrey to a terrific performance. Forman quickly moves into Andy’s life and never stops. Just like Andy, he stays one step ahead of the audience as he intricately swirves through the life of Andy Kaufman.
Despite all of the supporting performances and the man behind the lens, Man on the Moon ultimately succeeds with Jim Carrey. Carrey is almost always on the screen, and from this Man on the Moon benefits. As the film progresses, things seem out of place. That one loose tie needs to bring everything together. And as Andy goes to the Phillipines to seek his "miracle," he has the ultimate hoax played on him. And he laughs. And at that point, Andy Kaufman becomes apparent. He was not a comedian, or even a "song and dance man" as he claimed to be. He was an artist who was there to entertain himself, and always do the wild, not the obvious. But, on the final note, as Tony Clifton belts out his version of "I Will Survive," we get hit with one more dose of Kaufman, and despite how weird it may seem, it is a fitting ending to a great film.
Final Verdict: A