Homage to a fraud

Rating: Null/10 (22 October 2002)

This movie is difficult viewing. It is reasonably well-acted by Jim Carrey, at least enough so to add some three-dimensional fullness to the character of Andy Kaufman. But I never have been able to shake the conviction that Kaufman was purely a fraud who made up for lack of acting talent and comic ability with massive loads of baloney to make people THINK he was a genius. This movie only reinforced that belief.
Other than the brief television career he had on "Taxi", where he played the lovable foreign guy, Latka, who routinely butchered the English language, Kaufman was essentially a total loser who couldn't honestly act or make people laugh, so he had to resort to horrible excesses of fakery and deception and "plants" just to make certain gags work. (Even his arch-nemesis in the ring, pro-wrestler Jerry Lawler, was a plant.)
I've found that people by and large are willing to forgive bad acting, but not dishonest acting. I have always thought that Kaufman was guilty of both. Hey, it wasn't for nothing that the viewing public voted him off "Saturday Night Live".
If you see this movie, you should, if you ever get the chance, also see the E! True Hollywood story on Kaufman for a little added balance and perspective.