Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond

Jim Carrey was one of my favorite actors as a child. Andy Kaufman fascinated me as a young man. Yet, this incredible new documentary tries to convey that Jim and Andy are two sides of the same coin. Two human beings that learned how to be free through their art. It is all about the making of Man on the Moon, one of the most underrated biopics of all time and in my mind, the crowning achievement of Jim Carrey's career. Carrey didn't simply impersonate Andy Kaufman. Andy Kaufman possessed Jim Carrey. Through never before behind the scenes footage, we see Carrey slowly disappear into Kaufman and whether it was intentional method acting or not is unknown. Carrey came into the project as the hottest comedy star in the world and came out something completely different.

... and What of Andy Kaufman? Many say he's dead and many say he's still alive somewhere, playing a big gag that we just don't know about. Andy was mysterious like that. But his spirit exists, somewhere in our universe. Anyone with the bravery to be different from everyone else, in essence is an Andy.

After seeing Jim Carrey out of the spotlight for a while, but then recently back in the news with what could be described as "odd" behavior, I was curious as to what this movie would deliver. I was not disappointed. I have always been an admirer of Carrey's work, beginning with my introduction to his comedy on the sketch comedy show In Living Color. This movie/behind the scenes look at Carrey's acting focuses on how Jim essentially "became" Andy Kauffman for his role in Man on the Moon. This is a documentary not only about taking on the mindset and mannerisms of another person, but so much more. It helps explain who Jim Carrey has become... and it is brilliant. Most audiences are used to seeing Jim Carrey being over-the-top, but in this doc Jim shares with the viewer a very intimate piece of himself, which could shed light on most viewers perception of reality. I certainly look at life a little differently now after viewing this. I also have a better understanding of who Jim Carrey is as well. Jim becoming Andy changes how he views life, and as he profoundly says "the choices make you." This documentary was the best and realest thing I have seen in years.

The film covers Jim a lot more than Andy. It certainly makes an impact. They are both very complicated people and it becomes clear that if anyone was going to play Andy Kaufman it had to be Jim Carrey. He got about as close as anyone ever could.

In the interview sections Jim comes across charming and occasionally says some very profound and insightful things. The on set footage shows a very different person. He chose to approach the role as a hardcore method actor. Insisting on being called his characters names and never breaking character, even around Andy's family. Some of it is brutal and hard to watch. He is nothing short of an obnoxious, unhinged, tempormental nightmare. Especially when he plays Tony. There are many times when I feel sorry for the crew and his costars. Outside of the craft of acting there is a serious case to be made for Carrey being committed. He seems legitimately insane. That being said so did Andy and maybe Jim had to do that in order to temporarily become him.

The only fault I can identify with Jim's performance is that there was a sweetness about Andy and his funny antics. There is a dark anger in Jim which occasionally leaks out. Still I think Jim got as close as anyone could to capturing Andy.

My overall impression is that Andy Kaufman was a strange and beautiful performance artist. Jim Carrey is brilliant and troubled actor. I love watching his movies, but, I probably would not want to work with him.

As impressive as Jim Carrey's immersion of himself into Andy Kaufman was, the real star of this show to me was his own philosophizing over the stages of his life, and the segments we see of his career. On top of all his other talents, Carrey is one thoughtful, profound guy. It ties in beautifully though - Kaufman, a performer who always seemed be putting on an act and doing weird, absurd things, and Carrey, method acting as the guy who put on act, taking on a pro wrestler who also regularly put on act. It all blurs together, causing us to question the nature of things, e.g. what's real and what's entertainment, maybe showing how Kaufman broke a few barriers in that way. I would have loved to have seen even more of Jim Carrey and less of Tony Clifton, an annoying character who reminded me of a takeoff on Jerry Lewis's Buddy Love, and in any event, not all that pleasant. Still though, this is quite a thought-provoking documentary, and one to check out.

Quote, Jim Carrey on The Truman Show and real life: "I've stepped through the door, and the door is the realization that this, us, is Seaside. It's the dome, this is the dome. This isn't real. This is a story. There is the avatar you create, and the cadence you come up with, that is pleasing to people, and takes them away from their issues, and it makes you popular, and then at some point you have to peel it away. And, you know, it's not who you are. At some point you have to live, you know, your true man. You know Truman Show really became a prophecy for me. It is constantly reaffirming itself as a teaching almost, as a real representation of what I've gone through in my career, and what everyone goes through when they create themselves, you know, to be popular or successful. And it's not just show business. It's Wall Street, it's anywhere. You go to the office and you put a monkey suit on, and you act a certain way, say a certain thing, and lie through your teeth at times, and you do whatever you need to do to look like a winner, you know. And at some point of your life, you have to go, I don't care what it looks like. You know, I found the hole in the psyche and I'm going through, and I'm going to face the abyss of not knowing whether that's going to be okay with everybody or not, you know. And at times, just like the movie, they try to drown you in the middle of that abyss. They go, 'No, be the other guy. You told us you were this guy. You told us you were Andy. You told us you were Tony Clifton.' You know, no one can live with that forever."

Andy Kaufman offered a hilarious - and sometimes disturbing - reflection on comedy, celebrity, and being human. Then Jim Carrey became Andy Kaufman...and everything started all over again. This film is so much more than interviews and lost footage. It is a meditation on fame. Even more, it is a meditation on the thin line between make believe and reality. There's something to learn in the space between.