A good turn by Carrey, but...

Rating: 5/10 (18 July 2009)

Watching Jim Carrey's 'Man on the Moon', I got a feeling that to entirely like the movie and feel for the character, you had to have been a fan of Andy Kaufmannn, the stand up comedian on who the biopic was based. As such, I did not know anything about him, and I left the movie with a strange feeling of detachment with the movie and the character it portrays. Unfortunately, it does not do a good job of endearing a newcomer to Kaufmann as an individual. This would have been fine, if we could identify to Kaufmann as an entertainer. Again, unfortunately here, Kaufmann's antics hardly seemed appealing to everyone. I, for one, did not find his stage performances depicted in the movie to be too funny. Neither did I think the World Wrestling antics with women and Jerry 'the King' Lawler (who makes an extended cameo in the movie) hilarious.
The movie started off on a disjointed note, with a scene of Andy performing in front of the wall in his room, believing that there is a crowd applauding him, before his dad puts an end to it. Then we see a grown up Andy (Carrey) performing in a rundown bar, and the patrons leaving halfway through the show. He is told by the manager at the end of the show that he has to let him go, as his act is just not funny enough. This is where I felt it dropped off for me. After this, Andy's rise as a stand up seemed to happen quick, and I did not see enough background of how and why it happened after the initial setbacks. However, a poignant thing about the film was how Kaufmann seemed to pull so many stunts that no one believed him, even when he mentions that he does actually have a serious condition.
Of the acting, Jim Carrey once again proves he is definitely not a comic wonder, and can do dramatic roles if given more opportunities. Danny DeVito as his manager and Paul Giamatti as his friend/sidekick do great supporting turns as well. Jerry Lawler also puts in an entertaining turn. Ultimately, I guess it depends on what you would consider as funny.