Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond - Featuring a Very Special, Contractually Obligated Mention of Tony Clifton

For his role in "Man on the Moon," Jim Carrey took on the character of Andy Kaufman so fully that, as he relates here, he found himself reacting off the set as Andy would have reacted rather than as Jim would react.

Along with his known talents, Carrey shows himself in this doc to be a very articulate speaker, even when describing--as he does here a lot--his internal states. If actors need empathy, Carrey here puts that empathy into words--words we can understand and feel.

If you're not familiar with Kaufman, there's a great variety of footage from Kaufman's performances.

It's hard to compare this to any other doc I've seen. Its approach to the subject is as unique as the subject itself. If you want to understand and appreciate a side of Jim Carrey you may never have seen before, or what actors go through when throwing themselves into roles, this film is for you.

Few things get me more emotional than Andy Kaufman. Even hearing a few words of R.E.M.'s "Man on the Moon" makes my eyes well up. I remember watching his early appearances live on Saturday Night Live and the night he got into a fist fight on Fridays. And while I was alive for his descent into pro wrestling mania and his battle with cancer, I don't remember much of the end. Maybe I didn't want to process it. Maybe that's why I believed — to this day — that Andy is just waiting to pull the curtain back on all of us and come back. And maybe not coming back? Perhaps that's his best trick of all.

Conversely, I've never liked Jim Carrey. Unlike Andy, who undermined his own popularity and resisted the mainstream while simultaneously making a living from it, he seemed too eager to please. Too happy to take and take from the blockbuster machine, to be in works that didn't challenge him. That's why The Cable Guy surprised me. Here as the buffoon who mugged his way through Dumb and Dumber forcing viewers to contemplate the pain behind the character. He followed that movie with later challenging films like The Truman Show and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

The Jim Carrey that appears here is not the rubber-faced maniac who seemed to cry out, "Watch me! Love me!" This is a graying, faded, bearded, rougher man who has been through no small degree of personal loss and pain. And this is also a man who willingly gave his identity over to not just Andy Kaufman, but to Andy's more frightening side, the villainous Tony Clifton.

In a recent Newsweek article, Kaufman's sister gives some insight: "I think that Jim Carrey was a vessel," she said. " I do believe he allowed Andy to come through him. I also chose to believe that Andy was coming through him. When he looked at me, I'm not kidding. It was like speaking to Andy from the great beyond. I felt like he was coming through as the evolved, astral Andy."

I've watched Milos Forman's Man on the Moon numerous times. And I've read plenty of books, digested plenty of articles and watched every appearance Andy did on TV. I look to him in the way that I extend to few performers: he's more of a truth-speaking prophet than just a person. Do I give him too much credit? Do I see things in him, do I project magic that he wasn't able to perform? I think — I fervently believe — that he was something more. A force. Someone who was able to push buttons, upset people and be a real-life wrestling heel while at the same time delivering childlike moments of whimsy and wonder. Just the footage of him inviting everyone to join him for milk and cookies after his Carnegie Hall performance makes me weep openly. It feels too real, too loving, too honest and much too true.

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Andy is Tony or is he Jim , or is it Jim is Andy or Tony , or is Bob Tony? wonderful overview of the making of Man in the Moon the biopic of Andy Kaufman. Featuring Jim Carey talking though the psychological damage that various characters and the actor profession have done when taking on various roles. Riveting

A great document of a man who is suffering. What happens if you aren't content after achieving all your dreams?

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.