Writers: Jason Segel and Nicholas Stoller
Genre: Comedy/Musical
3 Cookies
Jason Segel is funny. Muppets are
funny too. So, when Segel writes and stars in the first theatrically released
“Muppet” movie since 1999, the result is a funny movie. At its best moments The Muppets is comedic genius and at its
worst points you’ll shrug your shoulders and wait for the next joke – for the
most part, the James Bobin (Flight of the
Conchords, Da Ali G Show)
directed film settles into a smooth, pleasant rhythm of clever jokes, funny
songs, and a ton of Muppet antics.
The
premise is simple enough. Gary (Segel), his girlfriend Mary (a wonderful Amy
Adams), and his brother Walter travel to Los Angeles for a vacation where they
discover that the Muppet Studios have become decrepit and run down. While
visiting the old Muppet Studios, Walter, the world’s biggest Muppet fan,
overhears the plan of an evil businessman, Tex Richman (Chris Cooper), to
destroy the Muppet Theater and drill for oil. “Maniacal laugh! Maniacal laugh!
Maniacal laugh!” The only way the theater can be saved, is if $10 million dollars
are raised. So Walter, Gary, and Mary go about the business of getting the gang
of Muppets back together, starting with Kermit, to hold a huge Muppet show to
raise the money.
It’s
almost impossible to not succumb, at least a little, to the charm of the
Muppets. I’m sure there are naysayers out there who claim the Muppets are dumb
and overly silly, but the haters simply don’t have a heart. C’mon! It’s the
freaking Muppets! How can you not have a good time? Obviously this isn’t a
groundbreaking and important masterpiece of cinema, but it’s a damn fun 98 minutes at the movies and a pretty great way to spend your
$12 bucks. In fact, getting to see the Academy Award winning actor Chris
Cooper perform a rap song is worth the price of admission alone.
Jason
Segel, who is slowly but surely becoming one of America’s funniest and most reliable actors (How I Met Your Mother, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, I Love You Man), clearly has a major
obsession with Muppets. I mean, it certainly wasn’t a coincidence that his Sarah Marshall character put on a Dracula
rock opera with puppets. It’s always fun to watch a movie made by people who so
obviously love what they are doing. Segel, who co-wrote the script with
Nicholas Stoller, is always a riot when he’s onscreen but knows exactly the
right points to pull back and let the Muppets handle the action. And the songs
are almost all successful, especially the joyous “Life’s a Happy Song,” and my
personal favorite, “Man or Muppet.”
There
are a ton of cameos in this film – everyone from Alan Arkin to Dave Grohl to
Selena Gomez shows up, including Jack Black who actually has a pretty
significant part. At times, I felt like there was cameo overload to the point
where it was annoying, but by the end I didn’t mind it as much. I think the
movie acknowledges it’s a movie a few too many times, like when a character
turns to the camera and speaks directly to the audience or when someone says an
important plot point and then explains that it was an important plot point. And
the movie does get a little tedious at times, but always gets back on
track quickly.
It’s
not perfect, but for a Muppet movie it’s pretty darn solid. “It’s time to play
the music. It’s time to light the lights. It’s time to meet the Muppets, on the
Muppet show tonight!”
No comments:
Post a Comment