Man on the Moon (5 Stars)

True Stories #30

Name: Andy Kaufman

Lived: 17 January 1949 – 16 May 1984

Film dates: 1955 to 1985 (a year after death), mostly 1971 to 1985

Film made in 1999

If you want a full review of this film, please check the post I wrote two years ago. Today I'll just add a few thoughts.

The film begins with the eccentricity that characterised Andy Kaufman. Jim Carrey walks onto a black screen and introduces the film.

"Hello. I am Andy, and I would like to thank you for coming to my movie. I wish it was better, you know, but it is so stupid! It's terrible! I do not even like it. All of the most important things in my life are changed around and mixed up for dramatic purposes. So, I decided to cut out all of the baloney! Now the movie is much shorter. In fact, this is the end of the movie. Thank you very much".

Then the final credits roll, while Jim stands and watches them. When they're finished the screen goes black for 14 seconds.

Jim cautiously peeks into the screen from the left, and addresses the audience again.

"Wow, you're still here! Okay! I hope you're not upset. I did that to get rid of those folks who just wouldn't understand me and don't even want to try. Actually, the movie is really great. It's just filled with colourful characters, like the one I just did and the one I'm doing now. And so the story begins".

The credits end at 3:40, so that means the rest of the film is an after credits sequence that lasts 109 minutes. This must be the longest ever after credits scene.

Jerry Lawler plays himself in the film. This is ironic, because he's acting out the events that he performed with the real Andy Kaufman 15 years previously. It must have been emotional for Jerry, because he used to be close friends with Andy.

Nobody but Andy Kaufman would have turned his own funeral into an entertainment show. After his death from cancer at 35, his body lay in an open coffin while a recently recorded video encouraged the people in the church to sing and be happy.

Before his death, Andy encouraged his closest friends to spread rumours that his death was a hoax. His friend Bob and his girlfriend Lynne wrote a book, "Andy Kaufman: The Truth, Finally", in which they claimed that Andy was in hiding and would return 30 years after his death. Sadly, he didn't return.

Success Rate:  - 1.1

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I'm happy that there's renewed interest in this magnificent film. I bought it on DVD in 2005, but the DVD has been out of print for years. Later this month it will finally be released on Blu-ray for the first time.