Forget The Truman Show, THIS is Jim Carrey's best performance.

Rating: 10/10 (14 March 2001)

I don't know why I've heard so many bad things about Man On The Moon, it was definitely one of the best films of 1999. Jim Carrey once again proves his versatility as an actor, impersonating the enigmatic Andy Kaufman in an endearing biographical comedy. Not only is the subject matter totally unique (largely as a result of the uniqueness of the person whose life it portrays), but there are also some original and effective things about the way that it was presented. In a world where it is strangely disorienting to see the end credits rolling DOWNward (as in Seven), it is equally odd when a movie starts with the main character facing the camera and telling the audience that the movie is over, and then stands nervously next to a record player while the full credits roll by (albeit upward).

Man On The Moon is a great show. It makes the suggestion that Andy Kaufman was so popular because he was so strange. Early in the film, Danny DeVito's character sits in a comedy club watching Kaufman on stage doing his odd presentation, and despite the strange things that he does, DeVito looks around and notices that everyone in the entire audience is riveted.

(spoilers) One of the best things about this movie is that it reveals so much about Andy Kaufman, but at the same time, it leaves the audience wondering if they really saw the real Andy, or if he fooled people all the way up until his death. This is emphasized by the fact that in Andy's shows, particularly the ones meant to get a rise out of people, you never know if what's happening is planned or if things have just gone horribly wrong. All of this is made even better by Jim Carrey's awe-inspiring performance, which flawlessly captures the depth and uniqueness of Kaufman's personality. And it was also good to see all of the stars of Taxi back together (or so I'm told  I'm pretty sure that show was cancelled before I was born).

One of the funniest things about Man On The Moon, however, was not Andy, but Tony Clifton. His hilarious obnoxiousness was even more effective that Andy's multiple personalities, particularly in his first scene, in which he `meets' Bob (`What's your last name, Up And Down In The Water?'), who turns out to be his business partner. Also, Andy's eventual love for Lynne (Courtney Love) develops in much the same way that David's did with his eventual wife in Shine.
Man On The Moon is the story of someone who became famous by doing his own thing, even if that meant manipulating the television companies that hired him. His eventual descent into sickness is very realistic and convincingly portrayed, evoking genuine emotion toward the end of the film, and the fact that Andy wants to continue doing shows perpetuates the mystery as to whether or not the sickness is real and whether or not we're seeing the real Andy, or just another act. When he is lying on the table, receiving a treatment of holistic medicine, there is a strikingly creepy lap dissolve to Andy as he lies in his coffin, but then we see Tony Clifton back on stage a year later. This is a fascinating film about Andy Kaufman, and while it was a fulfilling film, it leaves you wondering if even the cancer was an act, and whether or not Andy is really still out there somewhere, just avoiding the shallowness of the commercial television industry, as well as his own typecast persona as a character on a television show that he hated. It is a very welcome thing when a movie can really make you think like that, and it's a shame that it doesn't happen more often.