Man on the Moon (1999)

Subject: Man on the Moon (1999) Fri Jul 11, 2008 5:33 pm

Jim Carey, Danny DeVito, Paul Giamatti.

I watched an old episode of Taxi the other night and that got me thinking about Andy Kaufman which made me think of this movie. I wasn't too interested in watching this movie when it came out, but I thought I'd try it now.

It's basically a biography of Andy Kaufman's life. According to the facts on wiki, this pretty much is accurate with just one major flaw. The famous "milk and cookies" event actually happened BEFORE he was diagnosed with cancer while the movie shows it AFTER he finds out about the cancer. Other than shorting a few skits and appearances, everything else was pretty much spot on.

As far as the acting, Jim Carey does a really good job at making you believe that you are watching Andy Kaufman. He does a good job at portraying the "Foreign Man" and "Elvis" as Andy Kaufman. This is probably the most enjoyable thing I've seen him in (although I haven't seen much of his other movies). Carey even won a Golden Globe for his performance. It was nice to see Jeff Conaway, Marilu Henner, Carol Kane, Judd Hirsch and Christopher Lloyd during the "Taxi" scenes. Too bad Tony Danza didn't make an appearance. Obviously Danny DeVito was in the movie, portraying Kaufman's agent, George Shapiro.

The movie is rated R for some nudity and language. Take out that one scene with the prostitutes and a few choice words and this could easily be rated PG-13.

Overall, it wasn't bad. Someone who probably lived through the late 70s, early 80s would probably like it better than I did. Also, Kaufman has a "weird" sense of humor that many people don't get. I don't see myself watching this movie again anytime soon. Curiously, I looked at youtube and the actual scenes of what were redone in the movie are available. Those were neat to see.

I give this a 79.5/100.
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bow

Subject: Re: Man on the Moon (1999) Fri Jul 11, 2008 5:43 pm

Actual scenes that were redone in the movie...

SNL

Appearance on Friday's

That's Michal Richards for you Seinfeld fans.

On David Letterman

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bow

Subject: Re: Man on the Moon (1999) Fri Jul 11, 2008 7:09 pm

I'll add this score to the database. At first glance I thought/was hoping that you were reviewing A Trip to the Moon (Le Voyage dans la lune) which is a famous film from 1902. You've heard of it I'm sure (see screenshot below):

I hate Jim Carey but luckily your score was only a little too high so I don't have to watch this myself Whew

For those complaining I don't see new movies, I might try one+ of these:

LA Confidential
Unforgiven
American Beauty
The Shawshank Redemption
Pulp Fiction
The Usual Suspects
The Silence of the Lambs
Memento

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Coming soon: A better signature!

Subject: Re: Man on the Moon (1999) Sat Jul 12, 2008 4:08 am

I'm not a Jim Carey fan myself, so don't let that stop you from watching this movie. This is no "The Mask" kind of acting from Jim Carey.

As far as the scoring, it really deserves closer to a 75 or maybe a 73, but I added a few points because it was based on a real-life actor. And Jim Carey is that great in this movie.
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bow

Subject: Re: Man on the Moon (1999) Sat Jul 12, 2008 7:05 am

I read somewhere that Danza hated Kaufman when they did Taxi; Also Kaufman was the Intergender Champion and wrestled over 400 women and never lost.

On Youtube; there is a funny clip of Kaufman[ one of the Lawler-Kaufman promo clips] making fun of the South and their lack of hygiene.