Man on the Moon – Review

Andy Kaufman (Carrey) introduces himself and the movie in a style of his own. He warns about how bad it is. He informs us that he decided to cut out all the baloney. This means the movie is pretty much over…

After this unique opening, we have had a taste of Andy Kaufman’s humor and a few silly gags right off the bat. After this ruse to dump any viewer that isn’t willing to understand him, we get our real tale which begins on Long Island when he was a child.

Kid Andy pretends that the house is a television station. His father thinks he should be outside playing sports, or if he wants to perform, he has to find a real audience. Andy ropes his even younger sister into his shows as a result. She watches him sing his little songs and act out his strange show, which he does almost verbatim as a grown man years later on the mic as a misunderstood comic at a live stand-up show.

As he is fired, despite not even getting paid, he insists that his stylings are unlike anything else. Andy lets his weirdest characters fly high in front of audiences, but will his oddball antics ever find recognition? As he slowly finds his way into fame, how will this effect his creativity and performance? Find out in this biopic which covers the adult life of Andy Kaufman.

Man on the Moon is a dive inside the complex mind of performer Andy Kaufman. The man was clearly a creative and natural performer who focused on pushing boundaries and unconventional comedic tactics. Often his humor flew right over the head of the intended audience, and he did not care one bit.

Jim Carrey absolutely crushes the role, which was a very tough thing to do adequately. He brings humor and emotion to the dramatic comedy film while paying respect to the real man’s life. The script for me works well, and allows the comedic antics to evolve while treating the main character with care. It also has a unique approach which forces the audience to grapple with the reality of all they are taking in.

The surrounding cast is also quite good and the director brings both intimacy and shenanigans in the same film, which was a tough balance to find. I am no Andy Kaufman expert as he had already passed away when I was growing up, and I never saw a ton of his work. Despite that, I find this film extremely watchable and well crafted. Give Jim Carrey’s dramatic chops a chance as he might surprise you with this one.

"Thank you very much."

This biopic is pretty tough to compare to other films, but it contains elements of the films below: