Wicked Mediocre

Rating: 5/10 (6 June 2000)

I was really pretty disappointed. I absolutely adore Andy Kaufman. I think that he was a genius and undoubtedly one of the greatest comedians of the century. The problem with this movie was that it didn't show me anything that I didn't see on the "Tribute to Andy Kaufman" 1-hour special on Comedy Central. This movie left me with the feeling that Kaufman was a two-dimensional character with no feelings when he was off-stage. I don't know THAT much about the sequence of events that took place in Kaufman's life, but I do know that Forman manipulated the events to tell a much different story than actually occurred. I was disappointed because it just seemed like an hour and a half of Jim Carrey doing an imitation of the stunts that the real Kaufman pulled in real life. It left me with the feeling the Kaufman was just some freak that was impossible to REALLY KNOW, which I don't believe. Yes, Kaufman was a practical joker and mastered the art of tricking us into who he really was and what he really wanted from us. I saw no passion in this direction. When I see a biographical film, I like to at least think that the director is passionate about the main character's life. I just saw this film as a shallow reflection of the stunts that Kaufman pulled, as opposed to a thoughtful exploration of this brilliant man's life.