I never thought Andy Kaufman was very funny...

Rating: 8/10 (5 January 2000)

but I was very young then and didn't know any better. In this movie, you see Jim Carrey actually become Andy Kaufman. With the exception of Kaufman's true speaking voice, Carrey has him nailed. I didn't think Carrey could do better than his portrayal of the Riddler in Batman Forever, but this performance was absolutely fantastic. If you don't know Kaufman, just flip on Nickelodeon and catch a Taxi rerun before you see Man on the Moon. You'll think you're seeing the same guy.
When I was watching this film, I saw recreations of things that I saw a long long time ago. I remember seeing the bit Kaufman did when he came out on Saturday Night Live and lip-synched the theme to Mighty Mouse. I remember seeing his wrestling antics. I remember him getting smacked by Jerry Lawler. What was really cool about this movie was that while there was some dramatic license taken in some places, many of the scenes were recreated exactly as they happened originally. One thing that disappointed me though was that in almost all of the recreations the actual people were used where ever possible with one glaring exception. When they recreated the night Kaufman guest starred on Fridays. Norm MacDonald portrayed an actor that was actually Michael Richards of Seinfeld/Kramer fame. I was disappointed that Richards didn't play himself there. Jeff Conway who's been said to have punched Kaufman out appeared in the film, so why no Michael Richards??
I didn't know much about the Tony Clifton stuff, but the first scene he appears in was hilarious and disturbing at the same time. I won't spoil it, but it was genius.
If you know anything about Andy Kaufman, you have to see this movie just so you can see Jim Carrey play him. It's almost unbelievable.