Year:
1999
Studio:
Universal Pictures/Mutual Film Company
Movie:
4/5
DVD:
2/5
Movie
This is a movie about the life of Andy Kaufman, considered my many to
be a comedic genious and pioneer and apparently considered by many more
to be amazingly annoying. I didn't know anything about Kaufman (other
than watching some episodes of "Taxi" because I was infatuated with
Marilu Henner when I was young) before watching this movie and if it's
somewhat accurate, I would have really hated his brand of comedy. And
it's because a lot of his jokes were jokes on the audience. Fool the
audience, make fun of the audience, until they start laughing at the
situation, or -- as happened often -- even if they don't get it or only
one or two people get it.
|
Actors
Jim Carrey is amazingly good as Andy Kaufman. As I said, I'm not
familiar with Kaufman but it definitely wasn't Jim Carrey on the
screen. All the other actors supported that illusion. It was amusing
that Danny DeVito, playing George Shapiro (Kaufman's agent), didn't
appear in the "Taxi" scenes, at least not as Louie De Palma.
DVD
An unremarkable DVD. There is a 20-minute Spotlight on Location.
12-minutes of Deleted Scenes (without any introductions so it's a
jumble). Two R.E.M. music videos for "Man on the Moon" and "The Great
Beyond". Theatrical trailer, production notes, Andy Kaufman's
biography, cast and crew bios, and a bunch of commercials round out the
package.
Recommendations
It's a good drama and definitely for fans of Kaufman. Also good if you
want to see Jim Carrey really acting for once. Personally, it's not my
kind of movie mostly because apparently I wouldn't have liked Kaufman
in real life.
|