Man on the Moon (1999)

Directed by Miloš Forman. Starring Jim Carrey, Danny DeVito, Paul Giamatti, Courtney Love, Gerry Becker, Leslie Lyles, Vincent Schiavelli, Jerry Lawler, Peter Bonerz, Michael Kelly, Melanie Vesey. [R]

Groundbreaking “anti-comedy” entertainer Andy Kaufman is a worthy subject of a feature film investigation, but Forman, screenwriters Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski (who previously wrote the script for Forman’s The People vs. Larry Flynt), and actor Carrey are unable to get very deep into the stubborn comic’s head to explain what made him tick. As a recreation of his behavior and an account of his career, however, it’s a minor triumph; Carrey adeptly disappears into the role, and the film covers many of the high points (or, as some may argue, low points) in a professional life cut tragically short—his tenure on the sitcom “Taxi,” his rude and no-talent lounge act alter-ego Tony Clifton, playing audiences like a fiddle as an antagonistic wrestler, his performance at Carnegie Hall, etc. Kaufman’s relationship with a woman he met during his wrestling days (Love) is also treated superficially, softening the emotional impact of the film’s conclusion. In crucial supporting roles, DeVito plays Kaufman’s talent agent George Shapiro, and Giamatti portrays Kaufman’s friend and “co-conspiring” comedian/writer Bob Zmuda (both of the real-life counterparts have smalls part playing a club owner and the “Fridays” showrunner, respectively). A boatload of actors make cameos, often as themselves, including almost the entire main cast of “Taxi” (though DeVito is conspicuously absent, deciding not to take on a dual role).

70/100