Should Carrey win an Oscar?

Rating: Null/10 (3 January 2000)

Publicity for Milos Forman's biopic on Andy Kaufman has turned this film into less of a tribute to the late comedian and more of an Oscar grab for Jim Carrey. Since Carrey was snubbed by the Academy the previous year for The Truman Show, Carrey's camp have been eagerly pushing this one as his second coming.
Man on the Moon is indeed a tribute to the late comedian who's comic style was not necessarily genius, but certainly off-beat. In the movie we are treated to almost all of his best gags, most of which were meant to get a reaction from the audience, but not necessarily one of laughter. As Kaufman experts note, often he was the only one laughing. And even more often than not, we were never sure of what was real and what was fake.

Jim Carrey does do an admiral job of imitating the comedian. Carrey brings to life many of the old acts, including wrestling with women, portraying the vulgar Tony Clifton and appearing as Latka on Taxi. We are also treated to the behind-the-scenes antics, as the film suggests what was true of Kaufman's stunts and what wasn't.
I remember watching Andy on Taxi and Saturday Night Live as a kid. I also saw the Friday's episode where he started a fight and I saw the David Letterman episode where he sparred (again) with Jerry Lawler. From that perspective, this film was well worth watching. On the other hand, I saw this with someone who was not familiar with Andy, and they didn't seem to get it at all. (I think that should tell you something.)
So, lets change the subject, since this is not a movie so much about Andy Kaufman, as it is a vehicle to get Jim Carrey an Oscar nomination. Should Carrey get nominated for this film?
Remember that I am writing this review well before the nominations have even been announced and the film has only been out for a week and a half. Anyone reading after March 2000 will already know the whole sordid story.
Jim Carrey is good as Andy Kaufman, there is no doubt about that. And if we want to play true Oscar politics here, he does deserve the Oscar nod only because he was ignored for another good film, The Truman Show, last year. A little snubbing goes a long way in Hollywood.
And let's take this a step further. Carrey is a master comedian who had had some very funny moments in some pretty clever films (The Mask, Ace Ventura: Pet Detective) that would never be nominated. The Academy likes to recognize people for their body of work. Carrey has had an impressive decade.
On the other hand, while Carrey is good, he isn't great. From what I saw, Carrey is good at imitating Kaufman. He does the bits just as well, and sometimes better. He has the facial expressions and some of the vocal patterns down pat. But when it comes time to really act Carrey doesn't seem to be all there. When Kaufman finds out he has cancer, we see a little moaning and crying, but not the kind of acting that Oscar nomination are made of.
Sorry, but to judge the performance on its own merits, and officially, that is what we should be doing, Carrey does not give the best performance of this year. Man on the Moon is worth seeing. It's a good movie with a good performance. I don't think it's the film that Carrey should be remembered by.