An underrated, poignant, and essential biopic

Rating: 10/10 (4 December 2017)

I just finished watching "Man on the Moon" for the first time, and it's already one of my favorites. I had a tiny amount of knowledge on Andy Kaufman before now, and I'm sure not everything in the film is 100% accurate, but as a film, this really really holds up. Kaufmans whole character, and Jim Carey's portrayal of him is absolutely fantastic, wildly funny and brilliant. I really appreciated how many of the people in this film were portrayed by the people who actually were there at the time (Loren Michaels, Christopher Lloyd, Richard Belzer, and ESPECIALLY THE MAN THE MYTH THE LEGEND JERRY THE KING LAWLER) Paul Giamatti and Danny Devito are class acts as always, and really lend a great weight to the film, balancing Carey out wonderfully. Carey in comedic/serious roles strikes me in all the right ways. Everything about this movie strikes me. I love entertainers like this (both Kaufman and Carey's portrayal of him) and this film just really played my emotions in all the right ways. The only time I ever was slightly disappointed with this film was during the milk and cookie scene, as the closeup on Carey's face and the music swell was a little too intentionally sappy and "redeeming" for my taste, but it's a nitpick really. Usually I don't bend backwards for "feel good" stories, but the way that this story is depicted before it gets to that point really had me, and it's one of the only times that the ending of a film made me emotional: I highly recommend this film. 10/10