Man on the Moon (film)
1999 film directed by Miloš Forman
Man on the Moon is a 1999 biographical tragicomedy film about American entertainer Andy Kaufman, starring Jim Carrey as Kaufman. The film was directed by Miloš Forman, and also features Danny DeVito, Courtney Love, and Paul Giamatti.
The story traces Kaufman's steps from childhood through the comedy club and television appearances that made him famous, including his memorable appearances on Saturday Night Live, Late Night with David Letterman, and Fridays, and his role as Latka Gravas on the sitcom Taxi, which was popular among viewers, but disruptive for Kaufman's co-stars (DeVito, who also co-produced the film, co-starred with the real Kaufman on the series). The film pays particular attention to the various inside jokes, scams, put-ons, and happenings for which Kaufman was famous, most significantly his long-running "feud" with wrestler Jerry "The King" Lawler and his portrayal of the character of bawdy lounge singer Tony Clifton.
It was released on December 22, 1999, in the United States and May 5, 2000, in the United Kingdom by Universal Pictures and by Warner Bros. Pictures in some markets. Although the film was commercially unsuccessful and received mixed reviews, Carrey received critical acclaim for his performance and won a Golden Globe, his second in a row after his award for The Truman Show, this time the win being in the Musical or Comedy category.
The documentary Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond was released in 2017 and chronicles Carrey's performance as Kaufman in the film, a performance he maintained during much of the film's production.
Plot
Andy Kaufman is a struggling performer whose act fails in nightclubs because, while the audience wants comedy, he sings the Mighty Mouse theme song and refuses to tell conventional jokes. As the audience begins to believe that Kaufman may have no talent, his previously timid "foreign man" character puts on a rhinestone jacket and does a dead-on Elvis impersonation.
The public source identifies “Man on the Moon (film)” as 1999 film directed by Miloš Forman. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Moon, film and directed.
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Object files, edition statements, performance records and contemporary criticism preserve different stages of the work’s history. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 16, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1125282. VIAF identifies the subject as 185615313. The Library of Congress control number is n99258489. 3 of 7 selected statements include explicit references; 3 carry qualifiers and 1 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1999, 2000 and 2017.
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