Review of Man on the Moon (1999) by Cameron J — 08 Jun 2011

Andy Kaufman would believe that they put a man on the moon. You'de have to be as crazy as he was to think that it wasn't all staged, man. Stan Kubrick was in on the whole thing. Just look at how "authentic" "2001" is. Thank you, that was my moderately irrelevent impression of some annoying hippy so that I could fill out this paragraph. But seriously though, the film suffers from a lengthy prologue, a deal of slow and drawn-out spots and some rushing through segments. In spite of this the film is really supported by a decent soundtrack, compellingness, a progressive increase in quality and heavy emotional resonance.

Of course, if you've even heard about this film, the you know that there's no way we can't discuss Jim Carrey's stunningly remarkable performance as the late, great comedic legend. It's not enough that he reasonably looks the part, but his mannerisms and personality, or rather personalities are, as put best by the consensues, "eerily dead-on". Don't even get me started on how extremely well he did at emoting and giving you a sense of his character's pain during the major dramatic portions that come into play at the last, increasingly emotional half-hour. He's the key ingredient in this film's emotional impact. Taking into consideration that at the time this film was released, the '90s were drawing to a close and Carrey's first decade as a star with it, you can't help but think back to how this goofball packed some heavy comedic punches as a zany living cartoon barely 5 years from then, only to reveal, initially through "The Truman Show", that he might be committed to more than just comedic acting. Now, with his follow-up film, there's no denying that Carrey is as every bit a knockout competently as he is comedically. Here, he incorporates both elements into his act and really delivers on the effective comedy and heart-wrenching tragedies behind the late, great Andy Kaufman.

Ultimately, "Man on the Moon" is far from the most cleanly-crafted or exciting biopic, but remains an interesting and genuinely moving study on the career and struggles of the late comedic legend Andy Kaufman, who is potrayed brilliantly by the compelling leading man Jim Carrey. Thank you very much.