1999 biopicRating: 15/20
Plot: The pointless career of criminally untalented but intriguing public annoyance Andy Kaufman.
This is very similar (same strengths, same flaws) to The People Vs. Larry Flynt, probably because they're both directed by Milos Forman. I like this movie despite not being all that impressed with Kaufman as a "comedian" or really as a human being. Ok, the second part of that might be a lie. Jim Carrey perfectly embodies Kaufman with the mannerisms, the voices, and the facial features, but after a while, it just seems like you're watching a two-hour impersonation instead of a fully realized movie. This movie actually seems to hit a wall at about the halfway mark, right around the time when Andy starts wrestling. From that point until another point, things drag, I think weakening a lot of the impact that the movie's ending could have. I'm not sure why there was so much of a focus on the wrestling when a lot of the other stuff seemed pretty quickly skimmed over. Aside from Carrey, the other performances (DeVito, Giammati) are really good, and it's fun to see reconstructions of a few of the "highlights" of Kaufman's career.
1 comment:
Your review gets it just right. This is not a bad film, but it just sort of goes through the proper numbers and lays there. A little bit of the real Kaufman went a long way, and he had a spark. Carrey and the movie don't have the same spark. A 14.
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