It must be lonely up there

Rating: 8/10 (29 July 2000)

I'm not so sure that Andy Kaufman would have gotten away with it in the more cynical and jaded 21st century. In a world of 'Got Talents' and 'X-Factors', a world where people will do anything to be famous, even degrading themselves and selling-out their dignity for life, Andy Kaufman may not have been so notorious. Whatever you think of the man, be he nothing more than a self-sabotaging fool who did whatever he could keep his name in the media, or a comic genius who was well ahead of the curve, there's no denying that Andy Kaufman was unique.
I had no idea who he was until I saw this film, in Las Vegas on December 30th 1999. It the final movie I saw in the 20th century, a reminder of the more innocent, naive times we were gradually slipping away from.
Carrey (a horribly under-rated dramatic actor) completely becomes Kaufman. It's an amazing transformation. It bothers me when people just see him as Ace Ventura. Carrey and Kaufman are symbiotic when it comes to comedy and pathos. It's a role he was born to play (along with the obnoxious Tony Clifton), and it's such a shame that the film didn't perform better at the box office.
But a guess that a 'downer' film of a strange, long-dead, has-been comedian was not really something America wanted during the Xmas season of 1999. It was better than Stuart Little, that's for sure.
The film is loaded with cameos from actors who actually worked and interacted with Kaufman before his unusual premature death including David Letterman, Jerry Lawler, Christoper Lloyd, Carol Kane, and Danny DeVito.
However, I'm one of those people that believe that Andy is still alive.