I remember, when I heard they
were making an Andy Kaufman movie, I was intrigued and excited.
Who would play Andy Kaufman? The result was Jim Carrey. And there
couldn't have been a better choice.
The movie begins with a short
scene involving Andy as a child and his broadcasts from home.
It goes from their, right to the start of Andy's career. The film
skips over high school and childhood, which might have been interesting,
but the movie was a tribute to his career. The movie chronicles
his meeting with George Shapiro, his friendship with Zmuda, his
love with Lynne, and all the important events of his career. A
lot of the events are NOT in order, especially the change of his
Carnegie Hall concert from 1949 to 1984. But for dramatic purposes
it works pretty well. The movie reveals the truth about Tony Clifton,
Andy and Lawler, Andy's prostitute interest, and more. What really
makes the film great is Jim Carrey's excellent portrayal of Andy.
It is definitely Oscar worthy. The movie made me laugh and cry
in the end. This was an overall great experience, one of my favorite
films of 1999.
THE
FILM AND PRODUCTION NOTES:
Danny DeVito and Milos Forman
both had the idea for a film about Kaufman at one of Michael Douglas's
birthday parties. Danny knew Andy from Taxi, and Milos has seen
him live before and was interested in him. They both gave their
idea over to Scott Alexander & Larry Karaszewski. Through
numerous interviews with friends and family, they penned the script.
Events had to be rearranged for dramatic reasons. Milos and Danny
loved the script and got to work on casting.
Various actors fought for the
part of Andy such as Hank Azaria, Edward Norton, Kevin Spacey,
John Cusack, and Jim Carrey. But it was Jim Carrey who impressed
Milos with his impression of Andy. Jim, who's last film had been
The Truman Show, proved that he could do drama, and he had already
proven he could do comedy. The part went to Carrey. In fact Jim
and Andy were both born January 17. Years before Man on the Moon,
Jim had seen Andy and said "One day, I'm gonna play him."
The part of Bob Zmuda went to
Paul Giamatti. Lynne Margulies was played by Courtney Love. George
Shapiro was played by Danny DeVito. Of course Danny didn't play
himself in the Taxi sequences. The real George Shapiro and Bob
Zmuda were Executive Producers on the film, while Lynne was a
creative consultant.
Production began at Universal
Studios. Jim immediately became Andy. He was addressed as Andy,
and would carry aropund a Howdy Doody doll. He always stayed in
character and would run at Universal tour trams dressed as Norman
Bates. However, he also became Tony. They were each to be addressed
by their names. Tony was a constant trouble maker. News from the
set said that Lawler and Carrey actually got into a real fight,
but we'll never truly know.
Many people played themselves
in the movie such as Judd Hirsch, Marilu Henner, Jeff Conaway,
Carol Kane, Jerry Lawler, David Letterman, and Budd Friedman.
Bob Zmuda made an appearance as Jack Burns, and George Shapiro
as Mr. Besserman a night club owner.
THE
SOUNDTRACK:
The Man on the Moon soundtrack
is one I highly recommend. The musical score is by R.E.M, who
also wrote the song Man on the Moon, in which the movie title
came from. The soundtrack features:
1. The Mighty Mouse Theme (Here
I Come To Save The Day)-The Sandpipers
2. The Great Beyond-R.E.M
3. Kiss You All Over-Exile
4. Angela (Taxi Theme)-Bob James
5. Tony Thrown Out-Instrumental
6. Man on the Moon-R.E.M
7. This Friendly World-R.E.M,
Andy (Jim), and Tony (Jim)
8.Miracle-Instrumental
9.Lynne and Andy-Instrumental
10. Rose Marie-Andy Kaufman
11. Andy Gets Fired-Instrumental
12. I Will Survive-Tony Clifton
13. Milk and Cookies-Instrumental
14. Man on the Moon-Instrumental
15. One More Song For You-Andy
Kaufman
I recommend it to all fans of
the film and Andy Kaufman.
