Jim Carrey earns fresh consideration in revealing documentary

I've always felt like Jim Carrey has gotten a bad rap. When he first exploded as a superstar in the mid-90s his goofy, often lowbrow comedies were dismissed by most critics and when he was one of the first big name stars to attract a $20 million salary, it felt like people rooted for him to fail.

And when his movies occasionally did, it always seemed like their lack of success was overstated and he was rapidly pushed off the A-list, even though he's had several blockbuster hits since his 90s heyday, as well as some powerful dramatic turns in movies like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

While eccentric actors like Nicolas Cage and Matthew McConaughey have been afforded numerous career comebacks, Carrey has been strangely marginalized. Certainly his more tabloid-friendly antics and flirtation with anti-vaccination conspiracy theories haven't done him any favors. Nor has his gaunt, gone-to-seed look as of late.

But Carrey has always struck me as thoughtful, sensitive guy, whose work as an actor has held up far better than many skeptics would like to admit.

Jim Carrey as Andy Kaufman

Man on the Moon, his 1999 biopic about his comedic idol Andy Kaufman, has been viewed for years as one of his misses. It didn't do particularly well at the box office, and it didn't earn Carrey the Academy Award he clearly coveted at the time (he wasn't even nominated). The movie never worked entirely for me the time when I saw it.

I thought Carrey did a phenomenal job portraying Kaufman, but as a diehard fan of the late comedian, nothing quite compared to the real thing and the movie felt more like a greatest hits of the comic's career, rather than a revealing look at his life.

Now, nearly 20 years later, Carrey's performance, if not the film itself, has been redeemed by an incredible behind the scenes documentary currently streaming on Netflix, called Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond.

The film, which features riveting and straight up crazy behind the scenes footage of Carrey on the set of Man on the Moon, totally immersing himself into not just the character of Kaufman, but the other personas he played, all while attempting to replicate some of the high stakes pranks the comedian attempted to pull of while he was alive.

A far more chastened Carrey provides a running commentary, on both his past, his admiration for Kaufman and the freedom he sought in playing him. Watching the film Carrey can seem by turns pretentious, endearing, egotistical and hilarious, and he is also never even a little bit boring.

It's clear now that Carrey clearly was thrown for a loop by fame, and found in Kaufman the perfect vehicle to challenge himself and push his boundaries as a performer. Whether that was the most productive way to make a movie remains to be seen, but the experience was clearly life-changing for Carrey and the documentary, which is both unflattering and flattering towards him, effectively keeps the subject at a bit of a remove, and just presents the footage as it exists, without trying to impose a take on it.

Carrey himself seems to be at peace, with himself and his career -- even some others aren't. And Jim & Andy certainly made me appreciate his talent more, now that the dust has cleared. He may still be a nut, but what a nut!