Review of Man on the Moon (1999) by Carlos Javier P — 21 Dec 2017

A bibliographic film that tells the story of a comedian who did not care for the public, but a man who had a humorous belief, and persecuted it faithfully, mixed the impolitically incorrect with a kind of abstract humor, Andy Kaufman was a different comedian , with a unique sense of humor, his story is worthy of film, a film that falls into the hands of the competent Milos Forman, who adapts his life and work in an absurdly consistent way.

Andy Kaufman is Jim Carrey, and this is not just a catch phrase to put on the poster, Jim's acting is spectacular, and for me, his best acting career, Jim does not do an identical interpretation of how Andy was, he does a very similar performance but puts a lot of his personality to the character, which gives us an absurdly funny movie, making the viewer delirious every second.

The screenplay is not perfect, but it's very good, it's from childhood context and familiar to Andy, and highlights his already famous life and his controversies, which are not few, and cause much confusion in the viewer in being able to interpret who is who and what is false what is real - although in this aspect the film uses a lot of poetic liberty - but that was always part of Andy's mood.

The screenplay sends a somewhat depressing and hopeful message, something like "Life is a Big Joke", and this is exposed once in a scene, which to me is the most striking of the film, which is when Andy discovers that your greatest hope is a fraud, and find grace in it.

Technically the film is all well directed, mixing a gray photograph of the 80s with something hotter than the 90s, as well as creating ambiences and great extras, not to mention the fluidity of the film, because even the film repeats itself at different times, never the same you lose the rhythm.

Finally, the film is far above the level, it just fails to develop Andy's character, just to show his deeds, with an avant-garde and unique humor, Kaufman charmed audiences and even dying at age 35, is still considered one of the greatest comedians of the American scene.