I hate Jim Carrey AND Andy Kaufman

Rating: 8/10 (1 December 2003)

But I loved this film.
***POSSIBLE SPOILERS - HOW SHOULD I KNOW?***
One of those films I only watched because there was NOTHING else on at 3 AM, and one of the few in that category to actually surprise me. I had recently watched Comedy Central's 'documentary' on Kaufman's life, released near the time this film came out (for mostly the same reason I first watched the film), so I had some idea what to expect.
What I didn't expect was for Jim Carrey to turn in a competent performance, much less a brilliant impersonation of a very difficult character to duplicate. He managed to give an accurate portrayal of Kaufman without excusing Kaufman's antics or asking the audience to really sympathize with him.
Kaufman himself never was funny, and never tried to be. He was a 'performance artist' (which is Artese for 'insufferable twit') who lived only for a reaction, no matter whether it was good or bad. A very different person from Jim Carrey, who usually strains so hard for any meager laugh that he's completely unwatchable.
I don't consider the film 'moving' - by the end, I STILL didn't care if Kaufman lived or died - but it was engrossing. It held me from the beginning to the end in rapt attention, even upon repeated viewings.
Watch this one expecting accuracy, not comedy. If possible, catch the documentary on Kaufman's life, first; I don't know if I could have enjoyed 'Man on the Moon' as much, without the background it supplied.