11 January 2000
A Look at... Man on the Moon - THE COMMENTARY
By Joseph Planta
VANCOUVER - Milos Forman had come to prominence, at least in the film world, with his direction of Michael Douglas’ production of One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest, way back in 1975. Forman won an Oscar and the film became a classic. Then in 1984, he took the life of Mozart and turned his life story into a celluloid masterpiece which was the film Amadeus. He won an Oscar, again and the movie became a classic, as well. After a lengthy absence from the film world, he emerged with another biography, this time not too much like Mozart, but Hustler publisher Larry Flynt. The film forced the world to accept Courtney Love as an actress, as she played wife to Woody Harrleson’s Flynt in The People vs. Larry Flynt. It should be noted that the former Mrs. Cobain once again practices the art of thespianism, as she plays wife to the lead character in the film, I’m about to review here. It should also be noted that all of Forman’s former leading men won Oscar nominations: Jack Nicholson in Cuckoo’s Nest, F. Murray Abraham in Amadeus, and Harrleson for Flynt. Nicholson and Abraham going as far as accepting the Academy’s Oscar. The pedigree is there then that in Forman’s latest film, Man on the Moon, Jim Carrey as Andy Kaufman should score an Oscar nod. The scribes of Man on The Moon, are also the writers who wrote the script to The People vs. Larry Flynt; which won the Golden Globe, so they could score major nominations for their screen work this time.
Man on The Moon takes a comedic, but mainly dramatic look at the life of the dramatic but mainly comedic Andy Kaufman. Kaufman was one of television’s biggest stars in the early 80’s; playing the memorable Latka on the long-running Taxi. Kaufman was a comedian, who really wasn’t. Misunderstood at times, irreverent, and just plain weird, the same could apply to his portrayer in this film, Jim Carrey. At one point Edward Norton was cast in this role, but Carrey dying to be the one to play Kaufman, sent an audition video to Forman, who upon seeing Carrey’s antics, cast the performer in the role. Immediately.
Andy Kaufman could have been misunderstood. He could have been mentally unstable too, but I guess we’ll never know. His irreverent humour, which never bowed down to anyone, because he couldn’t play comedy straight, is a credit to his genius and his legend. Carrey plays Kaufman really well, and we can see those inner struggles come to life in an amazing performance that I won’t be surprised to see Carrey win the Golden Globe and possibly an Oscar nomination. I enjoyed seeing how almost realistic the film goes to portray the real people and real situations involved. The cast of Taxi is featured, Judd Hirsch, Marilu Henner, Christopher Lloyd and Carol Kane, make cameos. And I admire the technique used by Forman, in that we are subjected to a bearable montage, an almost sketch of the Taxi years; Not some kitsch Taxi reunion. I was also surprised to see David Letterman make an appearance. When Miss Henner made one of her sluty guest shots on the Late Show, say about a year ago, she prodded Dave into appearing on the film, he had refused, because he didn’t want to wear the kitsch clothes or the funky hairdos of the 80’s. I guess she worked that endless charm of hers on one Mr. Letterman.
Danny DeVito wasn’t featured in the Taxi clips, even though he was one of its biggest players. He was too busy playing the role of George Shapiro, the agent that discovers Kaufman and stays on to produce this film in real life. Seeing DeVito play straight man to Carrey and his alter-ego’s antics, is a refreshing look at his acting ability.
Considering Kaufman passed on so early, I wonder what he might have become in show business had he lived passed the age of 36. Carrey brings Kaufman to life in this picture, he goes for the full throttle of humour in his performance evoking strict observations on how Carrey nails the part down pat. Andy Kaufman’s genius lives on in this film, and I guess at the same time we see how in his performance, Carrey solidifies his own genius. Jim Carrey is the, comic genius of our time.
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An archive of Joseph Planta's previous columns can be found by clicking HERE .