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Man on the Moon
***1/2
Rated on a 4-star
scale
Screening venue: Odeon (Manchester)
Released in the UK by UIP on May 5, 2000; certificate 15; 119 minutes; country
of origin USA; aspect ratio 2.35:1
Directed by Miloš Forman; produced
by Danny DeVito, Michael Shamberg, Stacey Sher.
Written by Scott Alexander, Larry Kawaszewski.
Photographed by Anastas Michos; edited by Linzee Klingman,
Christopher Tellefsen.
CAST.....
Jim Carrey..... Andy Kaufman
Danny DeVito..... George Shapiro
Paul Giamatti..... Bob Zmuda
Courtney Love..... Lynne Margules
Jerry Lawler..... Himself
The comedian Andy Kaufman was perpetually aware
that a performance was not just a piece of material, but an event, happening
in a time and place. He wanted his audiences to have an experience; to know
they were in the room, watching somebody putting on a show. People didn't
always applaud his outrageousness as they watched it, but he always got laughs
somehow. Maybe they would laugh at him. Or chuckle afterward, in
disbelief. Or make their friends crack up by telling them what he did. The
sheer lunacy and audacity of his acts was hilarious; maybe not first-hand,
but certainly in concept, when you stopped to think about
them.
After all, Kaufman is the guy who once went onstage,
read "The Great Gatsby" in its entirety, then walked off. Whose act once
consisted of standing in silence through the "Mighty Mouse" theme song, except
for the "Here I come to save the day!" line, which he'd mouth along to. And
who, to close a concert in the gigantic Carnegie Hall, took all the spectators
out for milk and cookies. Kaufman was always pulling gags you had to experience,
even if that required you to be the butt of them. When he died of cancer
in 1984, many thought it was just another practical joke.
There are of course those who hail him as a genius.
His detractors find him confounding. Future generations can make up their
minds by watching Miloš Forman's "Man on the Moon", a
film which some have described, unfairly, as a sort of Greatest Hits compilation
reel. Yes, the film has a straightforward structure in chronological order,
and is mostly made up of its hero's onstage appearances. But it is therefore
a faithful and successful presentation of a very interesting character, leaving
us to love or hate him at will. The surprising thing is that so many of Kaufman's
antics are amusing in themselves, and not just as ideas. This is a very funny
picture.
It's also a deeply moving screen biography, following
years of success right through to times of pain, and made by some of the
masters of the bio-pic genre. Forman, the director, was also the helmsman
on the Oscar-winning Mozart epic "Amadeus" (1984), as well as "The People
Vs. Larry Flynt" (1996), a movie about the controversial publisher of "Hustler"
magazine. The screenwriters, Scott Alexander and Larry Karszewski, wrote
both "Flynt" and "Ed Wood" (1994). And Jim Carrey is a terrific choice for
the starring role. It's his second performance as a dramatic lead, and he
proves that his turn in "The Truman Show" was no flash in the pan, letting
his eyes and voice become possessed by his character. His appearance always
seems a little odd, but that's kinda the point. Anybody who knew Andy Kaufman
will tell you that he was always "on"; his mind was always pushing something
new up his sleeve, he made you keep your guard up. "There is no real you,"
one of the characters tells him. That character is his wife.
Of course the essential problem with any film
about this man is that it explains somebody who refused to be explained.
Figuring out what Kaufman was up to was part of the fun. Then again, on his
deathbed he did ask for a movie to be made about his life. Maybe he did think
it was important to be understood. He just thought that speaking for himself
would be a cop-out.
COPYRIGHT© 2000 Ian
Waldron-Mantgani
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