Man on the Moon Review
by "David N. Butterworth" (dnb AT dca DOT net)January 5th, 2000
MAN ON THE MOON
A film review by David N. Butterworth
Copyright 1999 David N. Butterworth
***1/2 (out of ****)
It takes a comic genius to play a comic genius. Andy Kaufman was indeed that. Jim Carrey is indeed that.
"Man on the Moon" is Milos Forman's biopic of the late "Taxi" star who succumbed to a rare strain of lung cancer following a short-lived career carved out by an eccentric style of humor and elaborate pranks that kept his audiences guessing.
As brilliantly realized by Carrey, Kaufman was a neurotic (some say psychotic) who turned traditional notions of stand-up comedy on their head. Kaufman's idea of entertaining a room full of college students, for example, is to read them "The Great Gatsby," cover to cover, with a dubious British accent. "Now *that's* funny." We never really know what makes Kaufman tick in "Man on the Moon," but it never seems to matter--the road traveled is a sad, funny, and remarkable one, made all the more remarkable by Carrey's unnervingly accurate portrayal.
Forman pulls us into the comedian's twisted, singularly manic world early on, with black and white, pre-credits footage of Kaufman (Carrey) telling us that this film is over before it even begins. In some ways, it is. And for Kaufman, in a lot of ways it was.
Kaufman is discovered by agent George Shapiro (Danny DeVito), who witnesses his cutting-edge stand-up act in an improv comedy club. "You're insane, but you might also be brilliant" he tells Kaufman over dinner. Soon after, Shapiro offers Kaufman a part in a sitcom called "Taxi" (with Judd Hirsch, Marilu Henner, Carol Kane, and Christopher Lloyd all reprising their roles; the years have been kinder to them than you'd expect). Believing sitcoms to be the lowest form of entertainment, Kaufman will only agree to the contract if certain conditions are met. His terms include his own television special (creative control assumed) and four guest appearances on "Taxi" by some no-name Vegas lounge singer called Tony Clifton. Tony who? The network top brass don't seem to care and Kaufman is on the payroll.
Tony Clifton, it turns out, is really one of Kaufman's many alter-egos. Keep 'em guessing indeed. "Kaufman is Clifton, and Clifton is Kaufman" waxes Shapiro. "You get two Kaufman's for the price of one." Actually, *we* get two Carreys for the price of one (and one Carrey is usually more than enough for any one movie). Like everything else in Kaufman's repertoire, Tony Clifton is just another gag, just another fabrication to get him onto that next rung of the show business ladder. Unconsciously, the abrasive Tony Clifton signaled the beginning of Kaufman's self-inflicted decline. The self-proclaimed "song and dance man" was beginning to alienate his audiences now and, while Kaufman could still fill auditoriums with ease, he was often times guilty of playing to an audience of one. Himself.
Successful and unsuccessful appearances on "Saturday Night Live" follow. Then "Taxi" is canceled. His transcendental meditation doesn't seem to be helping. Kaufman starts a new gig--inter-gender wrestling in Memphis--where he meets a woman called Lynne (Courtney Love, powder fresh from Forman's previous biopic "The People vs. Larry Flynt"), pisses off a whole lot of God-fearing Southern women, and starts a brawl on "Letterman." Oh, and then he gets cancer. All part of the act? Many--family members included--aren't convinced.
Andy Kaufman was a wild and crazy guy. Jim Carrey is a wild and crazy guy. Together, they make for fascinating cinema in Milos Forman's stellar "Man on the Moon."
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David N. Butterworth
dnb@dca.net
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