Courtney Love as Lynne Margulies and Jim Carrey as Andy Kaufman

The movie Man on the Moon opens with Andy as a child playing in his room, just as we all did, except that Andy performs his own TV show in front of a wall, convinced there is a camera secretly hidden behind it. After receiving advice from his father that "You can't be an entertainer without an audience," Andy's career of striving to elicit any kind of reaction from a crowd is spawned. We then follow him from his humble beginnings, testing out his comedy on his kid sister, to his apathetic reception at dive bars in his native Long Island, and on through his triumphant performances in New York City comedy clubs, where he hooked up with writing partner Bob Zmuda (played by Paul Giamatti) and manager George Shapiro (played by Danny DeVito).

Jim Carrey as Andy Kaufman

After being booked on the debut episode of "Saturday Night Live" and unleashing his infamous Mighty Mouse lip-synch routine on the world, Kaufman is offered a co-starring role as Latka Gravas on the TV sitcom "Taxi." Though initially turning down the part because he felt that sitcoms were the lowest form of entertainment known to humankind, he takes the gig and we're shown a montage of reenactments from his "Taxi" years, complete with cameos from his old co-stars such as Jeff Conway, Marilu Henner and Judd Hirsch (cameos made all the stranger because they despised Andy during the original run of the show). A reluctant Andy loathes every minute of his TV stardom. Combating the staid atmosphere of his sitcom life, he pursues ever more erratic kamikaze comedy stunts, the apex of which is performing as his alter-ego Tony Clifton. A cross between Don Rickles and Dean Martin, Tony was a loud and abusive lounge singer who'd sing "That's Amore" horribly off key, insult the audience, and wreak general havoc onstage until he was forced to flee for his life.

Although the film opens with Andy's madcap, screw-with-the-audience's-minds breed of comedy, it eventually settles into a standard set-up: exposition then tragic ending – ultimately giving the film a feel akin to Lifetime's "Movie of the Week."

I suppose it's a miracle that a movie about Kaufman was made at all. Yet, I can't help but wish that director Milos Forman gave us a few more surprises in lieu of just telling the story straight. Presenting the movie in 3-D or even "Smell-O-Rama" would have been more befitting of how Andy would have preferred to have his story told. The ultra-sappy ending is also particularly grating, especially in light of a far superior "alternate ending" which was rumored to show Andy alive and directing Jim Carrey on how to best portray him.

Nonetheless, Man on the Moom is a fine movie and Carrey gives an astounding performance. From his voice mannerisms and facial expressions to his moles and ubiquitous uni-brow, there is no doubt in your mind that it is Andy Kaufman you are seeing on the screen. In fact, a new category should be added to the Academy Awards this year for "Best Channeling of a Dead Person."

There's a line early in the movie when Andy's manager berates him for pulling a particularly dumb stunt. "Andy," he scowls, "Are you trying to entertain the audience or entertain yourself?" Kaufman is then left to contemplate which is more important. Man on the Moon definitely opts to be a crowd pleaser, and though Andy would've done it differently, I'm sure he is as amazed as anyone that such a touching and moving portrait of his life was created on film.