Ember a Holdon

I was a fool for putting off this film for a year because, instead of trusting Forman, I was a afraid of the not very appealing duo of Carrey and DeVito and the story about a comedian I didn’t know. It’s always nice to be surprised and thrilled by a film that you would’ve never expected. Funny and impressive gem. (2012.02.11)

This film is absolutely disgusting, stupid, idiotic, I didn't like it at all!... No, no, no, no, this film is absolutely brilliant and riveting!… What's truth and what's fabrication? That must have been the feelings of the audiences of Andy Kaufman, a master of misdirection, a man who lived an exciting, crazy, funny and sad life at the same time. And that is what this film is like, and I mean it. Forman knew that a life story like this was worth filming. His direction is downright brilliant, fresh, as if by a young filmmaker at the peak of their powers. Jim Carrey certainly doesn't ruin it, he's wonderful, but I liked him even more as Kaufman's alter-ego Tony Clifton, I cracked up laughing. Those two hours are watchable in one breath. Bravo! (2003.09.20)

To start off with, I found this so confusing that I doubted that it could have been made by a director of Miloš Forman’s caliber. But then all the parts begin to fall into place and I realized that the entire storytelling format and structure beautifully reflects Kaufman’s beguiling humor. The screenplay is highly polished in all respects. Watched a second time, you realize that Man on the Moon is a movie that is thought-out to the very last detail where everything serves toward forming the illusion. All in all perfect. Jim Carrey excels on all fronts in the main role and the others skillfully support him. And as for the directing, this is certainly one of Forman’s most ingenious pictures, while not being his very best. (2007.01.29)

Miloš Forman's filmography has two peaks: In terms of content and the significance of the theme, his best film is One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, but in terms of film language, editing, and film structure, the most interesting is definitely Man on the Moon. From a commercial perspective, it is Forman's most daring film, as such a demanding work could not find a place in the American market. Jim Carrey's performance is literally fascinating, and undoubtedly, it is his triumph, through which he definitively broke free from the box of a mocking comedian in undemanding comedies. Thanks to the complex personality of Andy Kaufman, the myth surrounding his character, and a series of mystifications accompanying his life (which the screenplay skillfully utilizes), I think it is the most interesting biographical film I have had the opportunity to see so far. Overall impression: 100%. (2006.06.13)

I'm glad I let my Man on the Moon experience mature. Miloš Forman made a film with Jim Carrey at the time of his greatest fame, and few were prepared for the change in genre. But we now know, especially after his encounter with the series I'm Dying Up Here (2017), what Carrey's relationship was to the early days of stand-up. After all, the format wasn't even introduced then, but today we can enjoy it to the fullest. (2021.07.05)