When I was in middle school, I did a research project on Jim Henson. We were expected to do presentations on famous figures from time to time, and as my nerdy, pop culture-loving self, I always picked notable faces from the entertainment world. During my research on Henson, I learned that the acclaimed puppeteer originally intended for the Muppets to be the adult version of his Sesame Street characters. The Muppets first appeared on Saturday Night Live- they were not meant for kids. But the world wasn't ready for R-rated Muppets, so Kermit the Frog and Fozzie eventually became family favorites. Audiences have always struggled to accept these characters in a mature capacity, best exemplified by Disney's failed reboot of The Muppet Show on ABC. It just doesn't work for people.
A long time ago, I read about a screenplay called The Happytime Murders (it spent years on the Black List), a violent & vulgar puppet noir made in coordination with the Henson Company. I thought it was a genius idea, and I loved the concept art that went with the logline. I'll admit, I have a soft spot for high-concept comedies that rely on juvenile gags. But in a post-Sausage Party and Avenue Q world, could a raunchy puppet flick like this really work on the big screen? Oddly enough, it seemed like the ideal way to honor Henson's original intent for the Muppets. Maybe it sounds dumb now, but I had high hopes for this one.
To put it nicely, The Happytime Murders is maybe the worst possible version of this particular idea. It's downright excruciating- who knew watching porno-loving puppets could be so boring?
If you're not familiar with the story, we follow Phil Phillips (Bill Barretta), a puppet private investigator and former cop. In a twisted Los Angeles, humans have overcome their differences in order to target all their hate towards puppets, who live alongside us for some reason (it's never explained, nor did I expect the film to do so). Phillips was the first puppet cop in the city, but a mistake in his past caused it all to crumble. Years later, his former partner, Detective Connie Edwards (Melissa McCarthy), hates his guts, he works mainly seedy cases, and he drinks his sorrows away on a regular basis. Not a great life for Phil.
Things change when Phil gets a call from Sandra (Dorien Davies), a nymphomaniac puppet (I'm not kidding) who is apparently being extorted. During his search for answers, Phil runs into more trouble. One of the stars of The Happytime Gang, a hugely popular puppet/human co-production, is murdered, leaving Phil and Connie with more questions than answers. As more cast members are gunned down, the former partners will have to team up again to uncover a vast conspiracy, one that involves money, revenge, and lots of puppet sex.
The Happytime Murders is a comedy with one joke, and that's something that no longer flies in the age of omnipresent studio marketing. The joke in Henson's film is that the puppets are horny and crass and violent. They do drugs and say "f*ck" all the time and shoot silly string out of their....uh, lower extremities. It's funny! I guess. The trailer certainly made me laugh at the time. But where Sausage Party and other bawdy, button-pushing comedies added substance and subtext to the bonanza of vulgarity, The Happytime Murders does basically nothing with its core provocation. This is the latest entry into the comedy sub-genre that thinks the word "f*ck" is inherently funny and that making sex references is the epitome of cleverness. A drug-addled Muppet saying a naughty word once is amusing. A drug-addled Muppet saying naughty things over and over and over again is exhausting.
As a raunchy comedy, Henson's film is often crude and sophomoric in the most unfunny way possible. As an example of studio comedy filmmaking in 2018, it's perhaps even more disheartening. There's often little rhyme or reason to even the most basic of dialogue scenes, which are all edited together in a way that feels awkward and clumsy. The repetitive nature of the plot (many scenes end with another murder) forces Henson to execute the same beats, and it's clear that even he's sick of playing with the same structure at a certain point. However, that makes the recycled nature of the comedy all the more baffling. Each scene features the exact same comedic elements- a sex joke, a drug reference, and a series of f-bombs. Maybe Todd Berger's screenplay demanded such a dearth of originality, or maybe the actors just phoned it in. Whatever the case, this is a situation where the absence of anything resembling humor is only made worse by just how clunky things get.
On a more positive note, the noir framework is fun. As Phil Phillips, puppeteer Bill Barretta actually does a pretty great imitation of those classic detective voices, and it's often enjoyable to see the filmmakers play with the tropes of the genre. But even if that recognizable setup is in play, it's hard to enjoy it too much when everything else is so dismal. The plot falls apart under minimal scrutiny, and the film's aforementioned struggles with narrative momentum and energy only serve to dilute the presence of such an appealing foundation.
Simply put, it's brutal. And it sometimes feels like everyone involved is just making it up as they go along. When the trailer for The Happytime Murders debuted, I was concerned that a crude and hilarious comedy skit was going to suffer in the realm of feature-length storytelling. And it does. Only its struggles are far more extensive than I ever imagined they would be. With a sorely lacking cast of human leads (Melissa McCarthy really needs a big hit right now), a flimsy plot, and a severe shortage of competent storytelling, this exercise in puppet extremity is a comedic black hole. You may have laughed at the trailer, but there's barely a chuckle to be found in this tortuous noir parody.
THE FINAL GRADE: D (2.6/10)
Images courtesy of STX Entertainment
A long time ago, I read about a screenplay called The Happytime Murders (it spent years on the Black List), a violent & vulgar puppet noir made in coordination with the Henson Company. I thought it was a genius idea, and I loved the concept art that went with the logline. I'll admit, I have a soft spot for high-concept comedies that rely on juvenile gags. But in a post-Sausage Party and Avenue Q world, could a raunchy puppet flick like this really work on the big screen? Oddly enough, it seemed like the ideal way to honor Henson's original intent for the Muppets. Maybe it sounds dumb now, but I had high hopes for this one.
To put it nicely, The Happytime Murders is maybe the worst possible version of this particular idea. It's downright excruciating- who knew watching porno-loving puppets could be so boring?
If you're not familiar with the story, we follow Phil Phillips (Bill Barretta), a puppet private investigator and former cop. In a twisted Los Angeles, humans have overcome their differences in order to target all their hate towards puppets, who live alongside us for some reason (it's never explained, nor did I expect the film to do so). Phillips was the first puppet cop in the city, but a mistake in his past caused it all to crumble. Years later, his former partner, Detective Connie Edwards (Melissa McCarthy), hates his guts, he works mainly seedy cases, and he drinks his sorrows away on a regular basis. Not a great life for Phil.
Things change when Phil gets a call from Sandra (Dorien Davies), a nymphomaniac puppet (I'm not kidding) who is apparently being extorted. During his search for answers, Phil runs into more trouble. One of the stars of The Happytime Gang, a hugely popular puppet/human co-production, is murdered, leaving Phil and Connie with more questions than answers. As more cast members are gunned down, the former partners will have to team up again to uncover a vast conspiracy, one that involves money, revenge, and lots of puppet sex.
The Happytime Murders is a comedy with one joke, and that's something that no longer flies in the age of omnipresent studio marketing. The joke in Henson's film is that the puppets are horny and crass and violent. They do drugs and say "f*ck" all the time and shoot silly string out of their....uh, lower extremities. It's funny! I guess. The trailer certainly made me laugh at the time. But where Sausage Party and other bawdy, button-pushing comedies added substance and subtext to the bonanza of vulgarity, The Happytime Murders does basically nothing with its core provocation. This is the latest entry into the comedy sub-genre that thinks the word "f*ck" is inherently funny and that making sex references is the epitome of cleverness. A drug-addled Muppet saying a naughty word once is amusing. A drug-addled Muppet saying naughty things over and over and over again is exhausting.
As a raunchy comedy, Henson's film is often crude and sophomoric in the most unfunny way possible. As an example of studio comedy filmmaking in 2018, it's perhaps even more disheartening. There's often little rhyme or reason to even the most basic of dialogue scenes, which are all edited together in a way that feels awkward and clumsy. The repetitive nature of the plot (many scenes end with another murder) forces Henson to execute the same beats, and it's clear that even he's sick of playing with the same structure at a certain point. However, that makes the recycled nature of the comedy all the more baffling. Each scene features the exact same comedic elements- a sex joke, a drug reference, and a series of f-bombs. Maybe Todd Berger's screenplay demanded such a dearth of originality, or maybe the actors just phoned it in. Whatever the case, this is a situation where the absence of anything resembling humor is only made worse by just how clunky things get.
On a more positive note, the noir framework is fun. As Phil Phillips, puppeteer Bill Barretta actually does a pretty great imitation of those classic detective voices, and it's often enjoyable to see the filmmakers play with the tropes of the genre. But even if that recognizable setup is in play, it's hard to enjoy it too much when everything else is so dismal. The plot falls apart under minimal scrutiny, and the film's aforementioned struggles with narrative momentum and energy only serve to dilute the presence of such an appealing foundation.
Simply put, it's brutal. And it sometimes feels like everyone involved is just making it up as they go along. When the trailer for The Happytime Murders debuted, I was concerned that a crude and hilarious comedy skit was going to suffer in the realm of feature-length storytelling. And it does. Only its struggles are far more extensive than I ever imagined they would be. With a sorely lacking cast of human leads (Melissa McCarthy really needs a big hit right now), a flimsy plot, and a severe shortage of competent storytelling, this exercise in puppet extremity is a comedic black hole. You may have laughed at the trailer, but there's barely a chuckle to be found in this tortuous noir parody.
THE FINAL GRADE: D (2.6/10)
Images courtesy of STX Entertainment
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