"There's no way to describe what I do. It's just me."Andy Kaufman was a comic genius. Man on the Moon (the title taken from a 1992 R.E.M song of the same title, which is used in this film) is the long awaited tribut to his genius.
Jim Carrey plays Andy Kaufman, a "wacko" who talks to dolls, sings childs songs and just plain acts stupid. Andy likes to trick his audiance into thinking things that are not real are.
One night, while performing his "routine" - which involves immitating Elvis and playing a character called "foreign man" - he meets George Shapiro (Danny De Vito), who becomes his manager. George lands him a role on a new T.V. series called "Taxi". Andy doesn't want to do a sitcom, but grudgingly agrees, as long as some conditions are met. He also get a guest spot on a new late night T.V. show - Saturday Night Live.
Both SNL and Taxi are hits for Kaufman, and he is ready for his conditions to be filled: He wants four guest spots for his friend, Tony Clifton, on Taxi, and he wants a network special for himself.
Tony Clifton is a dirty, rotten lounge singer who cares not but for himself. The thing is, he's Andy in disguise. Together with his best friend, Bob Zmuda (Paul Giamatti), Andy AKA Tony Clifton performs a lounge routine which basically makes the audiance mad at himself. Bob and Andy love it. No one else is in on the joke.
Needless to say, Tony Clifton bombs on Taxi. But as Taxi goes on, Andy's popularity soars to the point where every time he's on a stage that's all pople want to see - Latka, his Taxi character.
Andy branches out from acting: he starts wrestling women for fun (where he meets his future girl friend Lynne Margulies [Courtney Love]), and even gets into a fake fight with real wrestler Jerry Lawler (himself) culminating in another fake fight on David Letterman's (himself) late night talk show.
Andy's stage antics never stop: he reads all of F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby to a college audiance, he is baned from SNL by a phone in poll, and even takes the entire audiance out for milk and cookies after a musical extravaganza at Carnegie Hall.
Shortly there after, it is revealed that Andy has cancer. This is where people start to show there true feeling for the comic genius, even after his death.
Jim Carrey was the absolute perfect choice for Andy Kaufman. Carrey swears that he wasn't Jim Carrey when he was acting; he states that Andy Kaufman inhabited his body. He was so in character that he even demanded being called "Andy" and not "Jim". Jim even managed to land the role of the Grinch (from How the Grinch Stole Christmas) by acting as Andy playing the Grinch.
And, did you notice the conga drums Andy played? Those are Andy's original congas, bought by Jim Carrey at an auction, and used in the film!
Jim Carrey even looks like Andy Kaufman; most people will have to do a double take to see that it's really not Andy. This is the best film (and probably the only film) about Andy Kaufman, and it doesn't paint him in a negative way; rather the contrary: it paints him in a friendly light. We'll leave with this final quote:
"Thank you for this friendly, friendly world. Thank you, and goodbye."
Plot: 
The plot of Man on the Moon is great; the story is good, and it shows us the life of a great man who died too young.
Visual Effects:
There are some visuals in Man on the Moon; they all fit, and they all work, including the showstopping Carnegie Hall concert.
Sound:
The songs and sounds are excelent; the song Man on the Moon fits very well, and the other R.E.M song The Great Beyond is perfect too. The Mighty Mouse theme is a classic, and the final ditty done by Tony Clifton ( I Will Survive) is an awesome rendition.
Character Development:
Atmosphere:
If you like Andy Kaufman, Taxi, Jim Carrey, or Danny De Vito, you'll love Man on the Moon. If not, you'll still love it because it's such a wonderfull movie.
Realism:
Man on the Moon is a true story, but different goings on in Andy's life didn't nessescairly happen in the order they do in the film.
As well, Andy and Lynn didn't meet at a wrestling match, and Danny De Vito wasn't present on Taxi as he was playing George Shapiro. Tony Danza didn't appear because he hated Kaufman. (His feelings towards Andy Kaufman have mellowed over the years and he was at Andy's funeral, though not shown in the film.)
Despite all of this, it is still truthfull to the life of Andy Kaufman.
Warren’s Rating:
8.14/10Is the movie worth your time to watch?
01-10-03
