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Man on the Moon
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Released
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May 22, 2019
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Running Time
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28:36
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Previous Review
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Next Review
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TBA
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Link
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(The Channel Awesome logo and the title sequence play, before going to NC)
NC: Hello, I'm the Nostalgia Critic. I remember it so you don't have to. It's time to talk about the biggest letdown!
(A shot of the Game of Thrones title appears in the corner)
NC: Second biggest.
(A shot of the Phantom Menace poster appears in the corner)
NC: One of the biggest.
(Shots for several other shows, movie and TV alike pop up: The Last Airbender, LOST, The Sopranos, How I Met Your Mother, Fallout 76 and Batman v Superman)
NC: (slightly annoyed) A bad movie! Man on the Moon.
(The clips from this 1999 movie are shown throughout the review)
NC (vo): Now, you might be saying to yourself, "What an odd movie to pick on." The 1999 biography on entertainer Andy Kaufman may not have been a box office smash, but they got decent enough reviews from critics and audiences praising the life of the legendary comedian and the performances that brought it to life. With game-changing talents like Miloš Forman directing, (The posters for Amadeus and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest are shown) writers Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski penning the script, (The posters for The People vs. Larry Flynt and Ed Wood are followed) and one of my favorite childhood idols Jim Carrey bringing a damn good impression to the screen, why does this deserve such a bashing years later?
NC: Well, if you know Andy Kaufman's work, you'd probably saw this as okay. If you know Andy Kaufman's life, you saw this as a huge botched opportunity.
NC (vo): Now, don't get me wrong. I'm aware biographical movies have to take creative license when translating a person's story to the big screen. Ed Wood is one of my favorite movies, despite many parts of it being false. Bohemian Rhapsody has a ton of bullshit in it, but I still thought it was okay. Even Annabelle: Creation, (After the poster for this movie, posters of the previous movies of the Conjuring franchise are shown) the spin-off of the spin-off of the sequel of the "true story" that's clearly 90% horse crap, I still kind of enjoyed. So indulging in cinematic elements that didn't happen, I'm actually okay with. It's a movie; you gotta make an interesting story crammed in a two-hour running time. There's gonna be some changes.
(On NC's right, a person wearing a red shirt and a black jacket (1990s Jim Carrey played by Doug) appears)
90s Carrey: I suppose you want to talk about my documentary where I act like a ragine douche.
NC: No, Jim Carrey represented by my bad impression, I do not. Though...why did you act like such a douche?
90s Carrey: Oh, that wasn't me, the fun-loving Jim Carrey everybody adores. Know that was woke-a-crite Carrey.
NC: Woke-a-crite?
90s Carrey: My enlightened alter ego that acts like he discovered the meaning of life, but is really using his insecurities to judge people and act like he's better than them. He's over there, actually.
(NC turns his head to the other side to see the present-day Jim Carrey (also Doug), who is so bearded that his mouth isn't even seen)
Present Carrey: Critic, you know you're not really here.
NC: But I am.
Present Carrey: Well, maybe to your eyes, but to my evolved vision, we are nothing but ideas.
NC: (abashed) ...Okay, whatever.
Present Carrey: Oh, and don't ever use a gun again in your reviews.
NC: Don't you use guns in a ton of your movies? (Five shots of several movies starring Carrey are shown quickly)
Present Carrey: Well, that's before I became better than you. Or maybe I'm playing a character right now, I'm so complex!
(NC turns back to 90s Carrey)
90s Carrey: We call it "Russell Brand Syndrome".
NC: (to the camera) No, believe it or not, this actually has very little to do with the documentary that came out about the making of this movie, Jim & Andy.
(The footage of the 2017 Netflix documentary Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond is shown. Note: the clips from it will pop up frequentely during the review)
NC (vo): Where Jim Carrey Jared Leto-ed everyone by pestering and even sabotaging the movie set, claiming he was possessed by Andy Kaufman.
NC: That's another can of worms, but it will come up briefly later.
(Back to the clips of the film)
NC (vo): The big issue I have with the movie is that elements of Andy's life were made up, when they simply didn't need to be. The actual life of Andy Kaufman was really interesting, strange, heartbreaking and even charming.
(The footage of Andy Kaufman is shown, and it will also appear at some points in the video)
NC (vo): Kaufman was arguably one of the first big troll comedians, playing with expectations, flip-flopping between making the crowd laugh and annoying the hell out of them, but somehow, he did it with a surreal, yet infuriating logic that somehow made sense, even if it was only to him.
(The shots of Monty Python's Flying Circus and the 1980s Saturday Night Live crew are shown)
NC (vo): While there were big-budget groups that dabbled in similar comedy, this was mostly what Kaufman focused on, inspiring many great comedians to create their own style of anti-humor. So a movie about this man should be both interesting and funny. So why, in my opinion, did it miss what the spirit of Kaufman was about?
NC: Well, let's take a closer look. This is Man on the Moon.
(The movie's opening features Kaufman in black-and-white, in front of the black screen and next to a phonograph, addressing the audience. The following bits will be described by NC, with some exceptions here and there)
NC (vo): The film starts off...honestly, pretty great, with Carrey doing Kaufman's "foreign man" character, warning you that big chunks of the movie had been made up for dramatic effect.
Kaufman: (as a "foreign man") I decided to cut out all of the baloney.
NC (vo): In fact, he hated it so much that he cut it down. In fact, it's a lot shorter. In fact, it's over! He plays the theme to Lassie, and the credits roll. The theme isn't even very long, so he constantly has to start it over, as the credits stop with it.
NC: This is freaking wonderful. A routine Kaufman himself would no doubt really enjoy. (Beat) But then, this happens.
(Kaufman closes the recorder, and the screen smashes to black. After several seconds, Kaufman comes out from the left side of the screen, speaking to the viewers again)
NC (vo): He stops in the middle of it, we look at a black screen of silence for about 12 seconds, and then Kaufman comes out in his normal voice to say it was just a means to get rid of the people who wouldn't understand him.
Kaufman: (smiling) Actually, the movie is really great.
(NC thinks for a bit)
NC: You know, remember when I said I'd go back to that Jim & Andy documentary?
NC (vo): I can't help but think of one line in particular Jim Carrey said when he was Daniel Douche-Lewis-ing everybody.
Jim Carrey: How far should I take this? How far would Andy take it?
NC: (waves hands) Good question, Jim. Well, for starters...
NC (vo): ...Andy wouldn't have stopped the credits halfway through. If anything, he would make them go longer. He'd have that record continue to skip and slow everything down. Maybe the record would scratch and break and he has to get a backup, and the credits would start all over again, but he would play those credits all the way through.
NC: How far would Andy take it? He would have...
NC (vo): ...the Universal logo shine at the end, along with the rating of the film that used to pop up afterwards.
NC: How far would Andy take it? He would try to have every theater that showed this movie...
NC (vo): ...bring up the house lights! Some would be confused and maybe even leave, and he would wait a good two minutes minimum to give them time to exit or leave others to talk about what the hell was going on.
NC: Then, THEN he would...
NC (vo): ...peek his head out, and the story would begin!
Jim Carrey: How far would Andy take it?
NC: That far. That's how far Andy would take it.
NC (vo): So already, from the very start, there's kind of an understanding of what Andy is about, but it's not being presented. Don't get me wrong, maybe this was an idea and the studio said no, saying they could only do the credit bit for a certain amount of time.
NC: First of all, Carrey was so popular at the time... (hesitates)
NC (vo): ...you know, to get away acting like this, but he could have pulled some strings to make this happen, or as far as it could plausibly go.
NC: Second, it's unlikely they ever planned to go all the way with this bit, because the rest of the movie...kinda has a half-assed quality to it.
NC (vo): Maybe it's because they didn't know what they were doing, maybe it's because the studio got in the way, maybe it's because Jim got in the way, but it clearly rides throughout the majority of the film. Take, for example, starting off in his childhood. We see a young Andy performing skits alone in his room, which is totally true. He didn't play with many kids and liked to pretend there was a camera in the walls, which concerned his parents. He's told he needs to play with other children, so he does the exact same thing, just dragging his little sister in, played by Kaufman's real granddaughter, Brittany.
(The clip of the young Andy Kaufman trying an ventriloquist act with his baby sister Carol, played by Brittany Colonna, is shown)
Young Kaufman: The cat goes...
Baby Carol Kaufman: Meow, meow.
NC: So, anyone that's read an Andy Kaufman biography knows what's next.
(The real photos that depict Kaufman's career are shown)
NC (vo): He gets past his shyness by performing at kids' birthday parties; he gets drafted by the military, but fails the psych evaluation; gets addicted to drugs and has a child out of wedlock, giving her up for adoption; and when he was at his most lost, addicted to drugs and loneliness, he completely turned his life around by discovering transcendental meditation. Balancing out he darkest times of his life, allowing him to perform a kid's public access show, where he discovers doing the exact same act for children before adults instead can be surprisingly hilarious, giving him the inspiration to try comedy, which would be a huge defining point in his life.
(Beat)
NC: Or he just goes to stand up.
NC (vo): Yep. All of that skipped, and we just go straight to him being a genius.
NC: How much of that would have translated so well into a movie?!
NC (vo): Failing the military psych test, creating concern for him as a troubled outcast, getting lost to drugs and showing the struggle of him trying to get his life together, having a child and giving her up, showing maybe how he could have longed for simpler innocent realities, and even the almost accidental ways that longing for a simpler outlook created his act and arguably who he is. The essence of where Kaufman's act and Kaufman himself came from explored like any decent biography would do. Nope, just genius now! (in a sad, sarcastic voice) And nobody understands him.
Mr. Besserman: I don't know, Andy. I think I have to let you go.
Kaufman: You're firing me?