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List Price: $9.99 | | Label: Universal Studios
Salesrank: 9389
Released: May 30, 2000 |
| Our Price: $3.27 |
| Used Price: $1.98 |
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MPAA Rating: R (Restricted)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
JIM CARREY HILARIOUSLY PORTRAYS THE LATE ANDY KAUFMAN IN THIS ENTERTAINING COMEDY. KAUFMAN IS CONSIDERED ONE OF THE MOST INNOVATIVE, ECCENTRIC AND ENIGMATIC COMICS OF ALL TIME. ALONG FOR THE RIDE TO THE TOP IS KAUFMAN'S MANAGER, GEORGE SHAPIRO, HIS BEST FRIEND AND WRITER BOB ZMUDA AND HIS GIRLFRIEND.
Description of Man on the Moon:
"There is no real you," jokes Lynn Margulies (Courtney Love) to her boyfriend, Andy Kaufman (Jim Carrey), as he grows more contemplative during a battle with cancer. "I forgot," he says, playing along, though the question of Kaufman's reality is always at issue in Milos Forman's underappreciated Man on the Moon.
The story of Kaufman's quick rise to fame through early appearances on Saturday Night Live and the conceptual stunts that made his club and concert appearances an instant legend in the irony-fueled 1970s and early '80s, Man on the Moon never makes the mistake of artificially delineating Comic Andy from Private Andy. True, we get to see something of his private interest in meditation and some of the flakier extremes of alternative medicine, but even these interludes suggest the presence of an ultimate con behind apparent miracles of transformation.
Screenwriters Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski (The People vs. Larry Flynt) allege that transformation was Kaufman's purpose--more than a shtick but less than a destiny. As we see him constantly up the ante on the credibility of his performance personae (the obnoxious nightclub comic Tony Clifton; the insulting, misogynistic professional wrestler), Forman makes it harder and harder to detect Kaufman's sleight of hand. But it's there, always there, always the transcendent Andy watching the havoc he creates and the emotions he stirs.
Carrey is magnificent as Kaufman, re-creating uncannily detailed comedy pieces etched in the memory of anyone who remembers the real Andy. But while Carrey's mimicry of Kaufman is flawless and funny, the actor probes much deeper into an enigmatic character who, in life, was often a moving target even for those closest to him. --Tom Keogh
Man on the Moon Reviews:
Man On the Moon. 
2009-11-09 - It was too bizarre for me, Jim is a Good actor and He did a good portrayal of Mr.Kaufman but I didn't think much of the movie nor Am I obviously a fan of the person. Others should see the movie and decide for themselves.
The BEST 
2009-11-02 - Jim Carey did a BRILLIANT job of impersonating Andy Kaufman. This movie grabs you right from the beginning and holds you until the very end. And of course leaves you wondering (hoping) that Andy may not have died but faked his death like he often said he might. I remember seeing Andy on the first SNL and feeling broken hearted for him until he launched into Elvis. I got him right from the beginning and he never let me down. And I remember reading about the time he took everyone out for milk and cookies. I remember thinking, now that's cool. All in all this movie didn't get nearly the creds that it deserved.
Love this Movie
2009-06-04 - I got this for my grandaughter to give to her mom for Mother's Day
My daughter had been looking for it every where and could not find it. It's one of her favorite movies and I was so happy when I found it here.
Fascinating Bio Of A Strange, Strange Man
2009-03-17 - Biographies of strange people have always fascinated me, and this is no exception. And "strange" doesn't really seem to adequately describe real-life comedian Andy Kauffman. He was REALLY different, many times very offensive, sometimes very unfunny....but always extremely interesting and certainly unique.
Jim Carrey shows us once again how comedians can be such good dramatic actors. Carrey is outstanding in this role, and perfect for it. The rest of the cast is good, too, from Danny DeVito to Paul Giamatti to Courtney Love.
Right from the beginning of this movie one sees how original it is, and how original Kaufman was as a comedian. His routines, antics and put-ons are so realistically done that no thinks they are just that. Unfortunately, his "jokes" don't always go over so well, aren't appreciated by most audiences and he is not always the most likable entertainer you will ever see. That means - be forewarned - that there are a number of unpleasant scenes in this film. You have to really appreciate Kauffman's absurd humor and to appreciate Carrey's great portrait of this man.
On multiple viewings (I've seen it four times) I liked this film even more than the first time, even though I knew the surprises. I don't know of any comedian - to this day - who deliberately tried to annoy his audience or truly liked it when his audience hated him. I cannot believe he had the nerve to do the things he did. In summary, this is a fascinating biography, to say the least.
There is no real you. Oh yeah, I forgot. 
2008-04-30 - Man on the Moon is Jim Carrey's homage to comedian/non-comedian Andy Kaufman. A complex man, Kaufman didn't think of himself as a comedian, but he pioneered a bizarre act--as much conceptual art as comedy--oftentimes trying to provoke as much as get laughs. As his manager asked him:
George Shapiro: Andy, you have to look inside and ask this question: who are you trying to entertain--the audience or yourself?
In the movie George Shapiro is played by Danny Devito, but the real George Shapiro plays Mr. Besserman, who is forced to fire Andy from his comedy club because he isn't funny. He suggests a joke, like: "Why did the Siamese twins move to England? So the other one could drive," but Andy doesn't get it, isn't interested.
But Andy creates a character--foreign man--who does get a good reaction from the audience. He begins as a nervous, inept comedian, does a lousy impression of President Carter, and then says he will now do "the Elvis Presley." He rips off velcro strips on his pants, revealing the studs and sequins of "The King's" Las Vegas bell-bottomed jump suit. To a boom box rendition of "Thus Spake Zarathustra" he dons the costume and transforms. His lip curls. He does a great "Don't Step on My Blue Suede Shoes," then returns to character and nervously thanks the audience. Shapiro ends up managing him, though he is uncertain just where to book him. His break comes when he is cast as Latka Gravas for the sit com Taxi.
Andy is loath to do a sit com, but dictates his terms, one of which is that Tony Clifton must appear in 4 episodes. Clifton turns out to be either the worst Vegas lounge act of all time, or an alter ego of Andy Kaufman, in either case, he is thrown off the set of Taxi, along with his entourage of hookers, after inciting a riot, complete with fisticuffs.
The movie hits all the high and low points of Kaufman's career: Taxi, Tony Clifton, The Mighty Mouse theme lip synch on SNL, the "fight" on Friday's, The Great Gatsby bit, The intergender wrestling, the "fight" on Letterman, touch my cyst, his interest in Transcendental Meditation, his Carnegie Hall performance, complete with The Rockettes, Santa Claus, and an invitation for the entire audience to have milk and cookies, and finally his death from cancer. Or was that just another prank?
Jim Carrey gave a pretty good performance, but overdoes it with the crazy eyes. Kaufman's crazy eyes were just a bit more unsettling. Carrey doesn't have as good a rhythm on the bongos as Kaufman--though his comic timing is impeccable. Jim Carrey has made an entertaining movie, and also let the audience in on the joke, if it was one of Andy's pranks--but that is also the problem. How do you make a movie about a comedian/non-comedian who stretched the whole concept of comedy to include jokes at the expense of his audience? He wasn't always even trying to make the audience laugh. Maybe the joke was just something he and perhaps one or two others could appreciate.
Unlike this movie, whose aim is clearly to entertain. Was it then a failure because it strayed from the path pioneered by Kaufman? And what of Andy Kaufman. Was he serious, or was he putting you on? Even as he was dying of cancer, members of his own family think it may be just another prank. To this day there are people who think he faked his own death and will come back to laugh at our gullibility.
The People vs. Larry Flynt: Also directed by Milos Forman, and also featuring Courtney Love.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest: Also directed by Milos, and featuring Danny Devito.
Dr. Seuss' How The Grinch Stole Christmas (Deluxe Edition): Great Jim Carrey performance in title role.
The Cable Guy (Full Screen): Great and creepy Jim Carrey performance in title role.
L.A. Confidential: Devito in a serious drama.
American Splendor: A great Paul Giamatti performance.
Sideways (Widescreen Edition): Maybe Paul's best work to date.
Taxi - Seasons 1-3: For a sit com, this was pretty good. And check out some great Kaufman as Latka, and other characters.
A&E Biography: Andy Kaufman: More of the enigma that was Andy Kaufman.
Andy Kaufman Revealed!: Best Friend Tells All: This guy helped Andy come up with his stuff, and sometimes he even portrayed Tony Clifton. He had a cameo in Man on the Moon, and how then to explain Tony Clifton disrupting the wrap party?
