The film was directed by Milo Forman and also features Danny DeVito, Courtney Love, and Paul Giamatti. I cannot believe he had the nerve to do the things he did. Man on the Moon is a 1999 biographical comedy-drama film about the late American entertainer Andy Kaufman, starring Jim Carrey as Kaufman. I don't know of any comedian - to this day - who deliberately tried to annoy his audience or truly liked it when his audience hated him. On multiple viewings (I've seen it four times) I liked this film even more than the first time, even though I knew the surprises. You have to really appreciate Kauffman's absurd humor and to appreciate Carrey's great portrait of this man. That means - be forewarned - that there are a number of unpleasant scenes in this film. Unfortunately, his "jokes" don't always go over so well, aren't appreciated by most audiences and he is not always the most likable entertainer you will ever see. His routines, antics and put-ons are so realistically done that no thinks they are just that. Right from the beginning of this movie one sees how original it is, and how original Kaufman was as a comedian.
The rest of the cast is good, too, from Danny DeVito to Paul Giamatti to Courtney Love. Carrey is outstanding in this role, and perfect for it. Jim Carrey shows us once again how comedians can be such good dramatic actors. He was REALLY different, many times very offensive, sometimes very unfunny.but always extremely interesting and certainly unique. And "strange" doesn't really seem to adequately describe real-life comedian Andy Kauffman. Biographies of strange people have always fascinated me, and this is no exception.