THANK YOU VERY MUCH Review: In on the Joke, a Fitting Tribute

Forty years after his untimely death from cancer, Andy Kaufman's influence persists in popular culture. His cutting-edge humour was at best outrageous and at worst utterly infuriating. Basically, you either got it or you didn't.

For those that hung in though, it was obvious that, the more Kaufman pushed at the boundaries between fact and fiction, the more he was commenting on the very nature of live performance. Working in the 1970's and 1980's, Kaufman was the original cringe comedian.

The performer once told The New York Times, "I am not a comic, I have never told a joke." He declared himself an entertainer instead and that's what he strived for, but strictly on his own terms. Instead of standing up in front of a crowd to do bits, he grounded his act in theatrical personas.

This is how he blurred lines: one minute he was "Foreign Man" (the basis for his character Latka on the TV sitcom, Taxi), the next Elvis and then suddenly he was a performer who was crying to his live audience about the lack of engagement he was receiving. Spectators had no idea where he the performer began and where his act stopped. No one knew the real Andy Kaufman.

In Thank You Very Much (co-produced by the Safdie brothers and Morgan Neville), director Alex Braverman is clearly trying to solve the mystery of this man, to discover what made this guy tick. Besides the familiar and often notorious recordings of Kaufman's routines, the director blends in never-before-seen footage and intimate interviews with friends, colleagues and family members (these include longtime collaborator Bob Zmuda, romantic partner Lynne Margulies, and actors Steve Martin, Danny DeVito, and Marilu Henner). Braverman is clearly striving to uncover the man behind the performer.

And for the most part, he succeeds - as much as anyone can when dealing with such an enigma. It's a rather straightforward biographical documentary but, like Andy Kaufman, it does have some fun.

Through its rapid-fire editing strategy of switching between these private and public recollections it plays with the viewer's perceptions. But even this game plan makes it clear that the entire truth will always remain hidden. The best aspect of the filmmaker's approach is that he delves into the questions without answering them.

As Braverman weaves together interviews with close friends and colleagues, he builds a psychological portrait. It's not an entirely cohesive one but this actually makes sense when you're searching for a real person who insists on hiding.

The filmmaker examines every bit of historical and personal evidence at his disposal, including Kaufman's practice of Transcendental Meditation. There's even footage of the comedian asking the Maharishi whether there will be a need for entertainment once everyone is enlightened.

What will muddy the waters for some is Braverman's continual return to a painful childhood experience. In doing so, the film posits a possible explanation for Kaufman's modus operandi, this insistence on remaining hidden behind his personas. It's not entirely convincing - with these types of experiences, it's difficult to fully comprehend its true impact on the individual when he isn't there to speak for himself.

Mostly, Thank You Very Much serves as a fitting tribute to Andy Kaufman's work. It's fun to reminisce about his wild antics and even more so to realize that the filmmaker may be up to his own. With Braverman's heavy reliance on the intimate observations and revelations of those closest to Kaufman, a skeptical (or observant) viewer might wonder about the veracity of it all. since the film keeps pointing to the fact that even his loved ones were collaborators in his various pranks.

Images courtesy of Drafthouse Films. The film opens Friday, March 28, in movie theaters and On Demand. Visit the official site for more information.