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Man on the Moon (1999)

R 118 min  -  Biography | Comedy | Drama  -   22 December 1999 (USA)
7.4
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Ratings: 7.4/10 from 63,364 users   Metascore: 58/100 
Reviews: 532 user | 136 critic | 34 from Metacritic.com

A film about the life and career of the eccentric avant-garde comedian, Andy Kaufman.

Director:

Milos Forman
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Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jim Carrey ...
Andy Kaufman (also as Tony Clifton)
Gerry Becker Gerry Becker ...
Greyson Erik Pendry Greyson Erik Pendry ...
Little Michael Kaufman (as Greyson Pendry)
Brittany Colonna Brittany Colonna ...
Leslie Lyles Leslie Lyles ...
Janice Kaufman - Andy's Mother
Bobby Boriello Bobby Boriello ...
George Shapiro ...
Mr. Besserman
Danny DeVito ...
Budd Friedman ...
Himself
Tom Dreesen ...
Wiseass Comic
Thomas Armbruster Thomas Armbruster ...
Improv Piano Player
Pamela Abdy Pamela Abdy ...
Diane Barnett
Wendy Polland Wendy Polland ...
Little Wendy
Cash Oshman Cash Oshman ...
Yogi
Matt Price ...
Meditation Student
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Storyline

Man on the Moon is a biographical movie on the late comedian Andy Kaufman. Kaufman, along with his role on "Taxi," was famous for being the self-declared Intergender Wrestling Champion of the world. After beating women time and time again, Jerry Lawler (who plays himself in the movie), a professional wrestler, got tired of seeing all of this and decided to challenge Kaufman to a match. In most of the matches the two had, Lawler prevailed with the piledriver, which is a move by spiking a guy head-first into the mat. In one of the most famous moments in this feud was in the early 80s when Kaufman threw coffee on Lawler on "Late Night with David Letterman," got into fisticuffs with Lawler, and proceeded to sue NBC. Written by Eli Boorstein <uahp@rocketmail.com>  

Plot Summary | Plot Synopsis

Plot Keywords:

Andy Kaufman | Comedian | Wrestling | Eccentric | Wrestler  | See more »

Taglines:

"Hello, my name is Andy and this is my movie." See more »

Genres:

Biography | Comedy | Drama

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language and brief sexuality/nudity See all certifications »

Parents Guide:

View content advisory »
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Details

Official Sites:

Universal | Add/edit official sites  »

Country:

UK | Germany | Japan | USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

(USA) See more »

Also Known As:

Der Mondmann See more »

Box Office

Budget:

$52,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$7,515,585 (USA) (26 December 1999) (2079 Screens)

Gross:

$34,580,635 (USA) (20 February 2000)
See more »

Company Credits

Show detailed company contact information on IMDbPro »

Technical Specs

Runtime:

Sound Mix:

DTS  | Dolby Digital  | SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1
See full technical specs »
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Did You Know?

Trivia

The core cast of Taxi played themselves, with the notable exception of Danny DeVito, who was already playing George Shapiro, and Tony Danza who did not get along with Andy Kaufman at all. When DeVito was asked who would play him if he was playing Shapiro, he suggested that the simplest option was to simply scratch himself from the cast shown in the movie. See more »

Goofs

Incorrectly regarded as goofs: Numerous anachronisms can be chalked up to artistic decisions; the film intentionally plays fast and loose with the timeline. For example, the Carnegie Hall performance was years before Andy Kaufman's cancer diagnosis; the title song wasn't written until after Andy's death; Andy didn't meet Lynne Margulies at a wrestling match; Stacy Carter hadn't met Jerry Lawler before Andy died (and certainly hadn't married him). Andy performs his imitation of President Jimmy Carter (elected 1976) before Saturday Night Live begins. See more »

Quotes

Andy Kaufman: I am from Caspiar, an Island in the Caspian Sea. It sunk.
See more »

Crazy Credits

At 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. See more »

Connections

Featured in "Friday Night with Jonathan Ross: Episode #11.11" (2006) See more »

Soundtracks

"This Friendly World"
(1959)
Written by Ken Darby
Arranged by Norman Henry Mamey (as Norman Mamey) See more »