Was this a film or a documentary?

Rating: 4/10 (3 June 2000)

There are a couple of things that distinguishes a film from a documentary. One of the most important is building a unifying theme throughout the movie, telling a story, rather than just reiterating historical events. This movie was mostly just a replay of the real-life exploits of Andy Kaufman, with very little attention given to the behind-the-scenes action or, more importantly, motivation behind the events. Carrey does a great impression of Kaufman, but no effort is given in making Kaufman a complete character.
I could have rented a "best of" Kaufman tape and gotten the same effect as this film. In fact, the real Kaufman would have been much funnier. This was like reading a biography written by the subject's biggest fan...a skewed effort attempting to show how great Kaufman was. Unfortunately, we already knew how much of a comic genius Andy was...he showed us himself. There is no reason to watch imitators attempt to replay his shining moments. Andy left his own legacy, and I suggest everyone relive it by watching the master himself.