IMDb RATING
7.4/10
138K
YOUR RATING
The life and career of legendary comedian Andy Kaufman.The life and career of legendary comedian Andy Kaufman.The life and career of legendary comedian Andy Kaufman.
- Awards
- 5 wins & 25 nominations
Jim Carrey
- Andy Kaufman
- (as Jim Carrey, Tony Clifton)
- …
Greyson Erik Pendry
- Little Michael Kaufman
- (as Greyson Pendry)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaA man impersonating Gary Oldman discussed the project with an unsuspecting Danny DeVito for months and even submitted an audition tape to Milos Forman. The real Gary Oldman had passed on the role of Andy Kaufman months earlier, and became aware of the scam after he found his name listed as one of the actors auditioning for the part.
- GoofsAndy is playing a Ms. Pac-Man (1982) arcade machine, when George tells him that the producers of Taxi (1978) agreed to his terms. That's three years before the game came out.
- Quotes
George Shapiro: Andy, you have to look inside and ask this question: who are you trying to entertain - the audience or yourself?
- Crazy creditsAt the beginning of the movie, Andy appears, criticizing the movie as "so stupid" and "terrible," and complains about the movie's events being changed for dramatic purposes. He then says that he has "cut out all the baloney," making the movie "much shorter. In fact, this is the end of the movie." To get the audience to leave, he cues up a record, and the end credits begin to roll, through the cast list, stunt performers, unit production manager, first assistant director, and second assistant director.
- Alternate versionsSeveral scenes were shot but cut. These include:
- The cast of Taxi rehearsing with a stand-in substituting for Andy.
- Andy responding to fan mail from some attractive girls.
- Andy taking a girl out on a date and acting so weird she asks to go home.
- After the Tony Clifton fiasco on the Taxi set, Andy calling Ed Weinberger and thanking him for playing along so convincingly.
- A scene backstage after Andy "hurts" his neck at the wrestling match where his worried parents come to see if he is okay.
- A scene towards the end of the movie at the Improv Club where Andy resurrects his Foreign Man routine and is "heckled" by Zmuda posing as an audience member.
- ConnectionsEdited into Funny or Die Presents...: Fifty Shades of DeVito (2018)
Featured review
Hmmm...
Having liked the contrived Latka Gravas, but never really knowing much more about Andy Kaufman than the Headlines, Man on the Moon offered some incredible depictions of this one of a kind enigma.
I was never a big fan of his off-Taxi antics, but then again, Man on the Moon made it clear that I simply did not understand them. I'm not any more of a Kaufman fan than I've been, but Man on the Moon has left me with an incredible appreciation for his genius.
Jim Carrey's performance is chilling. His normal on-screen presence has often made it hard for me to see him as the characters he's played. This time, I forgot that I was watching an actor portraying Andy Kaufman. It was frighteningly good. The entire supporting cast was just as stellar.
Though interesting throughout, mostly because it explained so much that I never knew about events that were so highly publicized, Man on the Moon's amazing insight into the "why" behind the "what" of his antics completely left out the "why" behind the "what" of the person. I now know a lot about what he did, but I still know very little about who he was.
If the creators' intent was to let the world get to know Andy Kaufman the man, then I think the film missed its mark. However, that has nothing to do with the fact that it was an outstanding film in every way. It would be as unfair to detract from the film for this as it would be to call a hammer useless because it doesn't drill holes. A film isn't about what I expect, it's about what it is. In this case, it's astounding from beginning to end.
I was never a big fan of his off-Taxi antics, but then again, Man on the Moon made it clear that I simply did not understand them. I'm not any more of a Kaufman fan than I've been, but Man on the Moon has left me with an incredible appreciation for his genius.
Jim Carrey's performance is chilling. His normal on-screen presence has often made it hard for me to see him as the characters he's played. This time, I forgot that I was watching an actor portraying Andy Kaufman. It was frighteningly good. The entire supporting cast was just as stellar.
Though interesting throughout, mostly because it explained so much that I never knew about events that were so highly publicized, Man on the Moon's amazing insight into the "why" behind the "what" of his antics completely left out the "why" behind the "what" of the person. I now know a lot about what he did, but I still know very little about who he was.
If the creators' intent was to let the world get to know Andy Kaufman the man, then I think the film missed its mark. However, that has nothing to do with the fact that it was an outstanding film in every way. It would be as unfair to detract from the film for this as it would be to call a hammer useless because it doesn't drill holes. A film isn't about what I expect, it's about what it is. In this case, it's astounding from beginning to end.
helpful•10319
- hoscheit
- Dec 29, 1999
- How long is Man on the Moon?Powered by Alexa
Details
Box office
- Budget
- $82,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $34,607,430
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $7,515,585
- Dec 26, 1999
- Gross worldwide
- $47,434,430
- Runtime1 hour 58 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.39 : 1
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content
![Jim Carrey in Man on the Moon (1999)](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BNDI1Mjc3MzAtZDk0OS00OTZlLTlhZjktNzA3ODgwZGY2NWIwXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTQxNzMzNDI@._V1_QL75_UX90_CR0,0,90,133_.jpg)