Cinema: The Odd Fellows

The unconventional life of Andy Kaufman proves perfect for Hollywood's Boswells of the offbeat

Oddballs are Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski's specialty. Five years ago, the screenwriting partners turned the life of cross-dressing B-movie director Ed Wood into a critically acclaimed film starring Johnny Depp. Next they wrote The People vs. Larry Flynt, a Capraesque portrait of the porno kingpin who won a First Amendment case before the Supreme Court, with Woody Harrelson in the title role. But even for these masters of the "anti-biopic," which they describe as a movie biography of someone who doesn't really deserve one, telling the story of comedian Andy Kaufman presented a challenge.

If they remember him at all,...

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