A GENIUS GOOFING ON ANDY
A fascinating documentary recounts Carrey’s odd way of portraying his comic idol
The documentary’s full name is “Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond — Featuring a Very Special, Contractually Obligated Mention of Tony Clifton,” and if you know the long and legendary and bizarre history of the late Andy Kaufman, you’ll get the joke.
If you’re only vaguely aware of Kaufman, the actor (“Taxi”), comedian and performance artist who died in 1984, and you’ve never seen “Man on the Moon,” the great 1999 movie starring Jim Carrey as Kaufman …
Well. First of all, please see “Man on the Moon.” Also, check out Kaufman’s routines on YouTube.
But whether you come to the documentary “Jim & Andy” steeped in Kaufman lore or with little or no knowledge of the background, this is a fascinating, suitably meta look at the mad genius of Kaufman, and the mad extremes Carrey indulged as he lost himself in a Method performance.
Or perhaps Carrey was just pretending to be locked into the Kaufman persona. As was almost always the case with Kaufman’s life and times — and the movie about his life and times and now this documentary about the making of the movie about his life and times — the line between reality and extended performance art wasn’t just blurred, it was obliterated.
Chris Smith’s compelling and smartly edited film features highlights from dozens of hours of raw camcorder footage shot by Kaufman’s former girlfriend and by Kaufman’s former comedic partner Bob Zmuda during the making of “Man on the Moon,” as well as archival footage of Kaufman performing some of his most famous routines, vintage of footage of the young Jim Carrey making his own unique mark on the comedy landscape, and a current- day interview with a long- bearded Carrey, who remains one of our most talented performers even though he often disappears from public view for long periods of time to engage in all sorts of spiritual and mystical and self- affirming quests.
We see the great director Milos Forman (“One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” “Amadeus”) struggling to understand Carrey’s methodology and trying to maintain control over the production, even as Carrey stays in character as Kaufman or Kaufman’s goto alter ego, the obnoxious, second- rate lounge singer Tony Clifton.
Actors such as Paul Giamatti and Danny DeVito ( who, along with other former cast members of “Taxi,” agreed to reshoot scenes from the TV show for “Man on the Moon,” with Carrey as Kaufman as the character Latka, and wrap your head around that) seem befuddled by Carrey’s antics. Things get even stranger when the pro wrestler Jerry Lawler arrives on the set to re- create the infamous incident when Lawler executed a pile- driver move on Kaufman and injured him. Carrey as Kaufman goads Lawler into a real brawl. Or at least it seems real. The modern- day interview with Carrey is disturbing and strange and oh so watchable. Carrey recounts a phone call from Forman, who was almost desperate to talk to Jim Carrey and not Andy Kaufman or Tony Clifton. He tells how director Michel Gondry, who had cast Carrey in the upcoming “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,” was pleased to see Carrey was so screwed up by the “Man on the Moon” process and said he hoped Carrey was still a mess when they began working on that surreal- themed project.
At times “Jim and Andy” seems like an extension of the elaborate, long- con showbiz career of Andy Kaufman. So be it.