Man on the Moon
Universal Pictures | Release Date: December 22, 1999 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
58
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 34 Critic Reviews
Positive:
16
Mixed:
17
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
Jim Carrey's performance is an impersonation on the level of genius. Read full review
100
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
Less a biography than an essay on theatrical illusion and the changing nature of comedy. Love it or hate it, you've never seen anything quite like it. Read full review
100
Baltimore SunAnn Hornaday
Actually moves, whisking the audience on a funny, sad and extraordinary journey through a singularly compelling moment in American pop culture. Read full review
100
New York PostLou Lumenick
Less a conventional biography than a performance film - one that stuns and delights. Read full review
88
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
What is most wonderful about Man on the Moon, a very good film, is that it remains true to Kaufman's stubborn vision. Read full review
80
TimeRichard Schickel
Just gives us Andy, the pop postmodernist, and permits us to make what we will of him, which is a fascinating activity. Read full review
80
TNT RoughCutSarah Raskin
This Andy has "Oscar" written all over it. Read full review
75
USA TodayMike Clark
A movie of moments whose ultimate legacy may be to get Carrey out of formula comedies forever. Read full review
75
New York Daily NewsJami Bernard
Carrey gives an otherworldly, possessed performance as Kaufman. Read full review
75
San Francisco ExaminerWesley Morris
A fascinating, sometimes profound curiosity. Read full review
75
Miami HeraldRene Rodriguez
Carrey's amazing transformation in Man on the Moon does justice to Kaufman's undefinable talents and his peculiar outlook on entertainment. Read full review
75
Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam Arnold
It offers no special insights into its subject, it doesn't connect on any higher level, and it left me feeling vaguely dissatisfied and let down. Read full review
67
Portland OregonianShawn Levy
Strictly texture, a romp over the surfaces of Andy Kaufman's life with not much insight into its core. Read full review
63
Mr. ShowbizKevin Maynard
Unsuccessfully attempts to fathom Kaufman's lunatic sensibilities, supplying scant psychological insight into what made the outrageous comic tick. Read full review
63
Chicago TribuneMichael Wilmington
It's not that the movie is bad; it's merely uninspired and relatively clueless about Kaufman. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeJay Carr
Remains a frustratingly opaque study. There's something missing, namely Kaufman. Read full review
60
Rolling StonePeter Travers
You won't forget the way Carrey transcends mere impersonation to find the roots of Andy's torment.
60
The New York TimesJanet Maslin
What is missing here, though it might have been the first thing expected from an ostensible film biography, is an answer to the simplest question: Who was Andy Kaufman, and how did he get that way? Read full review
60
Chicago ReaderLisa Alspector
Though it suggests intriguing ideas about the nature of performance, humor, ambition, and the consumption of spectacle, the movie only superficially explores them. Read full review
60
Film.comTom Keogh
Jim Carrey is magnificent as Kaufman. Read full review
60
L.A. WeeklyChuck Stephens
The sort of sick humor even Andy Kaufman would have recognized as well beyond the pale. Read full review
60
NewsweekDavid Ansen
Forman's decision to stick to the surface is probably, in the end, a wise one. Kaufman always wanted to keep us guessing, and this movie respects his wishes. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
Though Man on the Moon is lost when it comes to Kaufman's inner life and motivations, it offers a detailed account of his career. Read full review
50
Dallas ObserverGregory Weinkauf
If this movie is a pedestal, it is far too tall and wide for a performer of Kaufman's stature. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
Unfortunately for Man on the Moon, Kaufman is definitely a person more interesting to hear about than to experience, an acquired taste few will be tempted to acquire. Read full review
50
Washington PostDesson Thomson
All credit to Carrey, whose one-man performance is almost enough to redeem the movie. Read full review
50
Film.comJohn Hartl
Carrey's performance, and Forman's lively attempts to ask serious questions about the nature of comedy, keep it interesting. Certainly it's never dull. Read full review
50
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
Milos Forman's film is a series of incredible simulations that never quite cohere into a movie. Read full review
40
SlateDavid Edelstein
I bet that what Carrey saw from inside Kaufman's head would be more illuminating than anything in the movie. Read full review
40
SalonStephanie Zacharek
Too conventional to capture Kaufman's insanity and too haphazard, too shapeless, to recapture Kaufman's energy in any meaningful way. Read full review
40
Austin ChronicleMarjorie Baumgarten
It would seem the purpose of this movie, if not to deify, is to define -- and in this it fails miserably. Read full review
40
Film.comElizabeth Weitzman
Regretfully, the beginning of this movie is as good as it ever gets. Read full review
40
Village VoiceJ. Hoberman
The filmmakers don't even attempt to give Kaufman an inner life. Read full review
30
VarietyTodd McCarthy
Never comes close to making the case that its subject is worthy of the viewer's interest. Read full review
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