Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond -
Featuring a Very Special, Contractually Obligated Mention of Tony Clifton
review by Bobby Blakey
Ever since he debuted on In Loving Color I have been a fan of Jim Carrey. I know there have been hits and misses with his career, but that is par for the course of every actor. One of my favorite films he ever did was the 1999 Milos Foreman Andy Kaufman biopic Man on the Moon. I have read so many stories about the behind the scenes of this movie, but never thought we would ever get to see any of them. Now Netflix is getting ready to debut the documentary Jim &Andy: The Great Beyond - Featuring a Very Special, Contractually Obligated Mention of Tony Clifton featuring Jim Carrey and more talking about making this amazing film.
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When Jim Carrey was cast to play cult comedian Andy Kaufman in the biopic Man on the Moon—but only after Carrey had convinced the renowned Czech director by nailing Kaufman in an audition. When Carrey heard that he had the part, he was in Malibu looking out at the ocean. What would Kaufman say? Carrey wondered before deciding that Kaufman would communicate telepathically. At that moment, a pod of some thirty dolphins broke the surface of the sea—and Carrey’s odyssey into Kaufman began. Many of the production’s most Kaufmanesque moments played out behind the scenes, thankfully captured on video by Andy’s former girlfriend, Lynne Margulies and former writing partner, Bob Zmuda and now Carrey looks back at the resulting footage 18 years later, reflecting on how he and Andy came up in oddly parallel universes, his experience channelling Andy and Tony, and more broadly the spiritual journey of his career.
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I never thought I could love the movie more, but after seeing how much of himself Carrey put into this role and the entire production it makes me love it all the more. This is like a normal behind the scenes featurette you might see on the bonus features of a release, but with the addition of Carrey and many of the other cast reflecting on it made it so much more. Carrey clearly still has a passion and love for this film and while it showed in his brilliance in the role, but it is made so much more evident here. It was so great to see him reflect on this time and role that gives the viewer an insight to his process and how it affects him and those around him. There is nothing here that seems to be watered down showing how crazy he drove the rest of the cast staying in character, but clearly was why it worked so well on screen.
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Whether you are a fan of the film or not this is a must see documentary for anyone that loves film. Seeing everything broken down and analyzed along with the insanity that is both funny and frustrating is something that has to be seen.