Milos Forman is good at biopics – look at his last movie, The People vs Larry Flynt, about the Hustler publisher. His new film, Man on the Moon, tells the story of the weird American comedian or anti-comedian Andy Kaufman.
Rather like Lenny Bruce before him, Kaufman delighted in taking comedy beyond laughs and into a realm of puzzled unfunniness. As one character asks Kaufman in the movie, “Is it an act, or are you just addicted to causing trouble?” He called his humour a form of “behavioural science” and his lunatic tricks alienated many (he was voted off Saturday Night Live), but they also gained him a dedicated cult following before his early death – the REM song after which the film is named helped keep his fame alive.
Jim Carrey uses both his comic skills and his talents as an actor to immerse himself in Kaufman’s complex personality, and he is totally convincing. Courtney Love makes her second appearance in a Forman film as the protagonist’s spouse, displaying a confident assurance often lacking in her abrasive music. Danny de Vito is excellent as Kaufman’s manager and friend.
The movie’s fluidly episodic structure allows Forman to cover the ground well without getting bogged down in biographical detail. There may be a lack of depth in places, but this Kaufman is a deftly drawn oddball, his many personae playing off against each other to illuminate his bizarre sense of humour. He was certainly as funny-peculiar as he was funny-ha-ha.