Man On The Moon (5 Stars)

This is a biopic about the life of Andy Kaufman, who lived from 17th January 1949 to 16th May 1984. He's considered by many to be greatest comedian of the 20th Century, even though he rejected the label "comedian".

I confess that I didn't know Andy Kaufman at the time the film was released, and I only bought the DVD because it starred Jim Carrey. I'd never even heard of Andy Kaufman. As far as I know, he was only ever popular in America. The DVD contained a few short videos of Andy Kaufman in the special features, and I watched various other performances on YouTube. After watching him I'm sure I would have been a fan if I'd known him during his lifetime. More accurately, I would have hated him at first because I didn't understand him, but he would have intrigued me enough to want to see more of him, and I would gradually have grown into a big fan. Somehow I think that's what Andy would have wanted.

Andy Kaufman was an eccentric and an innovator. At the start of his career he was booed off stage by audiences that didn't get it. I would have been too polite to boo, but I wouldn't have got it either. He told jokes that weren't funny, and he kept repeating them until people were laughing at him, not the jokes. He wanted to be ridiculed. On the other hand, it was more important for him to be able to laugh at the audience than for the audience to laugh at him. For instance, in a television special he let the picture roll to make the viewers at home think their television set was faulty. That's a wicked joke.

He was fascinated by wrestling, in particular the play-acting aspect of professional wrestling. He wasn't strong enough to become a normal wrestler, so he decided that he would only fight against women. The fights were staged, unknown to the audiences, but he was so abusive to women in his pre-match speeches that he became the most hated man in America, and he loved it! Jerry Lawler challenged him in order to defend women and bring back respect to wrestling as a sport. They had several fights and public brawls. They seemed to hate one another, but it wasn't until 10 years after Andy's death that Jerry Lawler admitted they were good friends and had planned everything together.

When Andy was diagnosed with cancer, nobody believed him. Everyone thought it was a sick joke, especially since he'd already talked about staging his own death as a prank. His final joke was actually the opposite. Before he died he arranged for clues to be left that he was still alive. Or was he really still alive after faking his death? He didn't want anyone to know.

Enter Jim Carrey. This was the dream role for him, as someone who had always admired Andy Kaufman. He didn't just play the role, he became Andy Kaufman. He's always been a method actor, but in this case he pushed it to the limits. He refused to let others call him Jim while he was filming. Jerry Lawler appeared in the film, playing himself, and Jim Carrey continued an enmity with him off-screen. This was especially disturbing for Lynne Margulies, Andy's former girlfriend, who was on the film set as an adviser. She asked Jerry Lawler one evening, "Do you think he's really Andy?" That's freaky. But Jim took it one step further. Even after the film was completed, he continued to live as Andy Kaufman, leading the newspapers to speculate that he was having a mental breakdown.

Jim Carrey and Andy Kaufman are kindred spirits. They're both insane, and they're both geniuses. Could anyone else have played Andy Kaufman? Impossible. This is Jim Carrey's film. It might not be his best film, but it's certainly his most personal film. He pours his whole being into the role.

I like Jim Carrey as an actor. I always have done. I forget what the first film is that I saw him in, probably "The Mask", and I've loved him ever since. But you know something? I think that if I ever met him and told him that I didn't like him, he wouldn't care. He'd probably laugh about it. Jim wants to have an effect on people, and he'd rather a person dislikes him than remain indifferent. Andy Kaufman revelled in being hated. I don't think Jim would go quite that far, but I don't think it would worry him. I'd like to meet Jim and tell him I hate him. He'd probably laugh at me. If he believes me, that is. I'm not a good actor, and he'd probably see through me immediately.

Jim Carrey. A great actor. A great man.

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