Un-compelling, uninteresting and not very easy on the eye.

Rating: 6/10 (25 April 2003)

The night I was watching this, `The Thomas Crown Affair' with Rene Russo and Pierce Brosnan was on the opposite channel. And now I regret missing the other film. Every 15 minutes I was tempted to change the channel, but I decided to stick with `Man on the Moon' to the end.
The film is disappointing to say the least. While it is an informal and marginally interesting character study, it's not a very likeable or enjoyable one. Partly, because we are presented with a rather unlovely character. Andy Kaufman isn't given much justice here. He's not the kind of person we want to route for, or really care about. Because of the film's accurate but rather gritty portrayal of him, he doesn't get our sympathy, nor do we give a damn about what happens to him.
The majority of the film is made up of a series of dismally unfunny stand-up acts. We don't know if it's trying to be intentionally unfunny or unintentionally funny, but either way it doesn't work. `Man on the Moon' is deficient of the most basic `easy on the eye' qualities which really bring it down. It opens well with a black and white `credits' sequence but doesn't keep the audience compelled.
Jim Carrey gives a generally good portrayal of Kaufman, but some of the scenes are too far out of his depth. He still hasn't made a satisfying transition to steady drama. Tinseltown throwaway Courtney Love is surprisingly good as Kaufman's down-to-earth girlfriend but is introduced too late into the movie to make much of an impact. The rest of the performances from the likes of Danny De Vito, Paul Giamatti and Vincent Schiavelli are good enough.
It lacks dramatic shape and very basic qualities that are expected of most films. So `Man on the Moon' was an awkward project from day one. I suggest you give this one a miss. 4.2/10.