Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond – Featuring a Very Special, Contractually Obligated Mention of Tony Clifton
Description
In 1999 while filming Milos Forman’s Andy Kaufman biopic Man on the Moon, Jim Carrey balked at the idea of participating in the filming of a standard electronic press kit and convinced the studio to let him take control of the behind-the-scenes footage, hiring longtime Andy Kaufman collaborator Bob Zmuda and girlfriend Lynn Margulies to document his transformation into the notoriously divisive comedian. During production, Carrey channeled the spirit of Kaufman and his alter ego Tony Clifton with uncanny and often unnerving results, forming a bond with Kaufman’s family and refusing to break character even when working through notes with an increasingly frustrated Forman. Working with thousands of hours of never-before-seen footage from the set coupled with Jim Carrey’s thoughtfully philosophical retrospective take on that defining moment in his life and career, Chris Smith (American Movie) creates a revelatory dual portrait of Kaufman and Carrey, and a meditation on comedy, acting, art, and life that is as provocative as its subjects.
Chris Smith made his first film American Job (1996) while attending the Graduate Film Program at the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee. When he was editing, he met Mark Borchardt, the memorable subject of Smith’s American Movie (1996), which won Sundance’s Grand Jury Prize for Documentary. Subsequent documentaries include Home Movie (SFFILM Festival 2001), The Yes Men (2003), and Collapse (2009), and the narrative feature The Pool (2007). Discussing this new film, Smith says he wanted it to “revolve around themes of identity and the journey one goes on in finding your place in the world. Through the footage, you get this amazing sense of how Carrey’s life connected to Kaufman’s and that’s what we wanted to showcase.”
Film Details
Language English
Year 2017
Runtime 94
Country USA/Canada
Director Chris Smith
Producer Brendan Fitzgerald, Danny Gabai, Chris Smith
Editor Barry Poltermann
Cinematographer Brantley Gutierrez
Print Source Netflix