Muppets – They’re back

We watched the new Muppet movie with a bit of apprehension.  Writers Jason Segel and Nicolas Stroller were better known for their bathroom humor in films such as Get Him to the Greek and Forgetting Sarah Marshall.  Their version of the Rat pack includes Seth Rogen, Paul Rudd and Judd Apatow.  So you have to wonder how these guys will pull off The Muppets.  However I am not one of those people who mistakenly state that the Muppets are kiddie-fare.  Hensen had quite a sense of humor - watch the first season of Saturday Night Live and you will see.  Even the original Muppet TV show has some subversive humor.  I loved it all.  I have loved everything Hensen and Frank Oz created (even Labrynth).  So, Jason and Nicolas had a hurdle with me.

Jason Segel is a Muppet fanatic and has wanted to do a movie for years.  Having read some of the incarnations over the past few years, I am glad it took a while to get the movie into development.  Everything had to be just right.  Although I had my doubts about his writing, I thought Jason as one of the stars was great.  His character Marshall on How I Met Your Mother is the perfect simpleton and goof-ball.  So we have to problem believing he has a muppet for a brother (Walter).

I was pleasantly surprised – this movie was fabulous.  Amy Adams is the sweet, mechanically-talented grade school teacher who is in love with Segel’s Gary.  They travel to LA for their 10^th dating anniversary.  They bring Walter, Gary’s muppet-obssessed brother with them and they visit the Muppet Studios.  There they discover the studio is in disrepair and a bad guy (Chris Cooper) is about to implement his dastardly scheme.  The rest of the movie is about bringing the Muppets back together and raising the money needed to save their studio.  There is singing, dancing, waka-waka jokes, and a lot of nostalgia.  The songs are often goofy and sometimes bittersweet.  I had a blast.  We all laughed, including my teenage son.  The audience we were with was obvious all having a good time. There are a dozen cameos and several inside jokes which will keep you watching.

Living here in Reno, there are some interesting jokes just for us.  Fozzy Bear is performing in Reno in a bottom-of-the-barrel casino.  His dressing room is the alley behind the casino where you hear gun shots followed by rain (boy, did that bring howls from the audience here).  Then when Fozzy is depressed and says he doesn’t want to go back to Reno there is an unexpected laugh I don’t think the writers planned.  Everyone in our audience had a good sense of humor and there was no offense taken (I think you need to have a certain amount of self-deprecation to survive in Reno).  FYI - the movie makers clearly have not been to Reno (except to get the fabulous shot of our arch).  It was cool though, almost like being in the movie (hee hee).

So, go see this movie.  Those who grew up with the muppets will enjoy the nostalgia and kids today will discover the amazing world of Jim Hensen.  GO!