Is Jim Carrey Andy Kaufman, or vice versa

Rating: Null/10 (29 December 1999)

After driving home from watching this movie, I wondered if it was worth all the hype.
First, will this movie get Jim Carrey the Oscar? In my opinion, this won't even get him a nomination. Although Milos Forman cast Carrey perfectly for the role, it was only because Jim Carrey is the Andy Kaufman of the nineties. If the roles were reversed and Kaufman starred in the movie, `Jim Carrey: There Was No Pet Detective Like Him, Kaufman would be receiving the praise. Critics say, `you think you are actually seeing Andy,' and although most people will agree, is it a true statement? For the first part of the film, the audience sees Carrey, a man who is imitating a performance artist, but as the film continues, you forget you are watching Carrey. Why is that? Great acting? The only way I can explain it is like when watching a movie made in England (Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels, Full Monty, ect). At first, it is impossible to understand what anyone is saying because of the accents, but as the film goes on, you slowly start to feel more comfortable with the accents and without even consciously realizing it, you can understand ever word. That is the only way I can parallel it. I watched Carrey's bad imitation, got used to it, and by the end of the movie thought it was dead on.

Second, the movie in general. I would have to agree with the majority of the critics who state that Forman, Alexander, and Karaszewski did not go deep enough into Andy's world. Andy Kaufman had a complex life, but the film only touched the surface. It seemed research was gathered only by watching The E! True Hollywood Story and A Comedy Salute to Andy Kaufman on Comedy Central. It only covered what the public already knew, as opposed to The People VS. Larry Flint, which went much deeper.

Other than that, the rest was good. You can always count on a solid performance by Danny DeVito and Paul Giamatti (always funny). Although her role served no purpose in the movie, Courtney Love did a fine acting job. This again brings back the point that the movie did not go deep enough. If she was in the movie, they should have gone all the way and dove more into her character. Without that, she was just a pretty face.