Thank You Very Much (2023)

Alex Braverman's documentary look at Andy Kaufman came as a shock to me. Normally I find that films that probe the history and psyche of their subject delight me with all of these hidden truths and things I never knew before. This time out while I saw a kindred spirit in a broken performer who never got over his childhood trauma, I also realized that the thing I always suspected was that he was a one trick pony who just repeated himself.

First I should say that Braverman's doc is a great film. It truly reveals Kaufman as both a human being and a performer. Its a film full of great clips and greater insight. A work of cinema it is truly a stellar achievement. And as such it should be seen.

The problem is that the film reveals Kaufman to be a person I like a hell of a lot less then when I went in. The problem to me is that Kaufman's performances, I can't say comedy because it's closer to stand up philosophy than comedy, always seem to be of a type. Do something mean or cringy and then flip it. The result is laughter not really because it's funny or clever but because it's a release from being made uncomfortable. While I found the idea that Kaufman's constant poking us to make us consider what is or is not real forced us to think, his method wore thin rather quickly since it always followed the same pattern. You showed us X but what about other ways of getting there?

Watching Kaufman in interviews and off stage broke my heart. I didn't see a performer, but a guy who was severely broken. I could hear the pain in his voice and the desperate need to be loved. In the footage we see he was always on in away that made me nervous. He wasn't a clown, just a guy trying to get hug from strangers... but while it provoked a reaction I don't think it was ever satisfying, so he had to keep doing crazier things to remain connected. ( As much as I understand his feeling of being betrayed by Dick Ebersol and SNL I also understand the break - you can't push and not have push back)

Half way into the film I found I went from liking Kaufman to pitying him and realizing he was nowhere near as clever as people had lead me to believe. Truly Latka was the best thing he did.

 I have no idea what your take will be. For me it's a well made film about a sad little man I never need see again.