A great movie

Rating: 5/10 (23 December 1999)

Before I say anything about the movie I want to state I liked it very much. I have a couple of minor complaints but over all it was a great film. First, Jim Carey had better get nominated for his performance. He was brilliant. He captured Andy and it was almost like watching Andy on screen. I defy anyone blindfolded to tell the difference between Andy's foreign man and Jim's. The academy snubbed him for The Truman Show so anything is possible. They may have a hard time getting over the Ace Ventura movies. (Which are very funny) All I can say about that is Jack Nicholson was in the original Little Shop of Horrors, and Tom Hanks starred in Bachelor Party. I have been a fan of Paul Giamanti for a while and he had Zmuda down. This guy has replaced the late J.T. Walsh as my favorite character actor. I felt Danny De Vito came across very well. You could feel how much George Shapiro loved Andy and fought for him. Not many agents would have been able to withstand the Kaufman antics. The beginning of the movie was pure Kaufman. Jim had me right there. Now for my complaints. I know it is a 2-hour movie and you only have a certain amount of time to tell the story. The facts and timeline of this film are all off. Andy did not meet Lynne until 1983. He filmed his Carnegie Hall show in 1979. He meet Lynne on the film My Breakfast with Blassie. None of the Taxi stars attended Andy's funeral. It really glossed over Andy's rise to stardom in his early years. But, I can forgive these things as simply minor and only a Kaufman freak like myself would even care. Milos Forman does a great job making the audience see Andy and appreciate him. He was the master prankster and was willing to do anything for the sake of entertainment. Whether it was his own or the audiences. Sometimes the audience did not get him, and now I hope that we can appreciate where Andy was coming from. At the end of that movie I had even more respect for Andy, which is no small task considering I considered him a genius even before I plunked down my $7.50. Andy was indeed a genius, and as most he was misunderstood when he was alive. Like, Van Gough, one can only hope that he will finally get the recognition he so richly deserves