Andy - not the audience - gets the last laugh

Rating: Null/10 (15 July 2000)

Andy Kaufman was not the most radical or subversive comic that lived, neither as dangerous as Bill Hicks, as trailblazing as Peter Cook, nor as taboo-challenging as Lenny Bruce. When he died, the public had long forgotten him, having given up on his enigmatic, annoying brand of performance art. The very thing that made him doomed made him brilliant. He annoyed the world to entertain himself, he didn't care whether he was loved or hated. MAN ON THE MOON is faithful to Kaufman's ideology. That is, it is annoying and trying, but ultimately rewarding.
Milos Forman's portrait is that of a genuine anarchist - Kaufman makes reference to admiring the sneering arrogance of punk rock - but beyond that, is curiously alienating. While Carrey delivers his best performance yet - you completely forget who is playing Andy - his character is distant. When MAN ON THE MOON runs out of gas at the end, it is because, much as we admire him, the exhausted audience finds it hard to care too deeply about what happens next.
A film has to get points for caring enough to alienate its audience, and it's the ultimate tribute to Andy. Certainly, the best way to watch this film is as a series of escalating practical jokes. The narrative, and supporting characters are neglected, and we never get an insight into what makes this fascinating, complex individual tick. But, if you sit back and watch Andy turn his tricks on the world, and turn the audience into the punchline, you will laugh yourself silly.
In the end, it's not a classic to rank alongside Forman's AMADEUS, CUCKOOS NEST, and LARRY FLYNT. But you get the impression Andy would approve, which makes it an incredibly brave biography.