Energetic Jim Carrey Channeling His Inner Andy Kaufman

Rating: 7/10 (16 August 2017)

In "Man on the Moon", Jim Carrey dishes it his elastic-like energy to a different direction in his portrayal of the legendary comedian and master manipulator Andy Kaufman (1949-1984). Director Milos Forman gives us a full-depth look into the eyes of this unpredictable genius who rose to super-stardom, raising eyebrows and creating controversy wherever he went. In his short time on Earth, Kaufman accomplished a lot more than we could only dream about. The track by R.E.M. can be heard in our heads the entire time as we follow Kaufman in his weird world that he lives in and Jim Carrey brings us along for the zany, crazy ride. Carrey shows us why he was the perfect casting choice to play the part of Andy Kaufman because like Kaufman, Carrey is a master when it comes to impersonation. Every quirky event comes here; from portraying the wide-eyed Foreign Man to wrestling women, to reading of "The Great Gatsby" and to lip-syncing the theme song to "Mighty Mouse", it all comes to life and Carrey just nails his scenes perfectly.
Even though Kaufman's memorable moments were brought to life here, we still feel left with several curious questions that are still left unanswered that will for the rest of our lives remain privately kept and unknown. We never full understand why he turned out the way he did or what makes him tick, because we're only given emphasis based on the things the mainstream knows about and very little on his life outside the limelight. Because of this flaw, the mystery of who Andy Kaufman is remains in the dark. From my personal observations, this movie is left to give us the impression that Andy was more weightless to his audiences than he was to himself.
"Man on the Moon" is another big extravagant picture which collaborates Milos Forman along with his screen writing partners Scott Alexander and Larry Karazewski brought vibrancy and passion to the 1996 film "The People vs. Larry Flynt" which was rich in its characters and situations. "Man in the Moon" we are treated to the events that we already know about, but in the end we know very little about him, which makes everything rather opaque. Maybe because Kaufman himself was self-conscious of his life, or maybe I just wanted more than what we know.
In spite of this major faux pas, "Man on the Moon" is able to trace back the important moments in Kaufman's life successfully and Jim Carrey channels in his inner Kaufman very convincingly.
Under great artistic structuring, Kaufman's moments are played out straightforward but also faithfully as he wows the packed audiences with his clever but quirky mind games while Carrey adds touches of his own comedy style to make things all the more brighter.
Make no doubts about it, Kaufman came a long way with the eternal belief that life's a stage and we all have our parts. From his early years growing up in Great Neck, New York to success as a comedian, TV star master of the manipulation, it was shame that a lot of the people in Andy's life wasn't given that same amount of attention as the man himself. The only one closest was Danny Devito (who was a co-star of his on the show "Taxi") playing the sole true friend of his as agent George Shapiro and cared about this eccentric comedian the whole way through.
The other honourable mention is the performance by versatile actor Paul Giamatti as another close associate to Mr. Kaufman's Bob Zmuda who was Kaufman's co-writer and conspirator who was behind the creation of one of Kaufman's infamous alter-ego, Tony Clifton. Clifton made several appearances time and time again even on the show "Taxi" often appeared at his comedy club delivering aggressive humour, along with pudgy cheeks, black moustache and a thick Brooklyn New York accent. Like Kaufman, Clifton was also fascinated with wrestling women. And even that is only seen in fragments.
It's a biopic that explores the memorable moments of Andy Kaufman's life and Jim Carrey does an excellent job of recreating the comedian who entertained us in the 1970's and 1980's and the events that take place are all very involving and energetic. The movie itself shows only small fragments of these events and the characters in Andy's life are only just there for the moment leaving very little in development. It's still funny and very exciting watch about an unpredictable man going to great lengths to tease its audience.