Film Review: "The Happytime Murders" (2018).

"From the studio that was sued by Sesame Street" comes The Happytime Murders. This black comedy mystery crime film directed by Brian Henson, and written by Todd Berger. The film is a filthy comedy set in the seedy underbelly of Los Angeles where puppets and humans coexist. Two clashing detectives with a shared secret, one human and one puppet, are forced to work together again to solve the brutal murders of the former cast of a beloved classic puppet television show.

In 2008, it was announced the film was in development, and would serve as The Jim Henson Company's first R-rated film. Two years later, the film was picked up by Lionsgate with a targeted January 2011 start date, and Cameron Diaz attached to star. However, Diaz dropped out of the project, and Katherine Heigl entered talks to replace Diaz. In July 2015, it was announced that Lionsgate had lost the rights, and that STX Entertainment had picked up the rights and put the film into active development with Erich and Jon Hoeber providing script revisions. In April 2016, Jamie Foxx entered negotiations to star. However, in May 2017, it was revealed that Melissa McCarthy had signed on to star instead, and contribute minor, uncredited rewrites. By early September 2017, Maya Rudolph, Joel McHale, Elizabeth Banks, Jimmy O. Yang, and Ben Falcone were cast. At the same time, with a budget of $40 million, principal photography commenced, and took place in Los Angeles, California. There were a total of a hundred and twenty-five puppets in the film with forty created specifically for it. To accommodate the puppeteers, all of the sets were built up so that the puppeteers could stand on the floor, since their optimum way to operate the puppets is if they are standing with straight arms. Because the floor of the sets came up in pieces, the human actors had a two-foot margin to stay on their path. The film was originally scheduled for a August 17, 2018 release date, but was pushed back to August 24.

The film stars McCarthy, Rudolph, McHale, Banks, Yang, and Falcone. Dark and vulgar, the film is a backstage comedy featuring puppets that offers proof of the film's taste for sheer outrageousness, even if it often lapses into pure juvenilia. The stories of these characters are told in a disgustingly graphic, obscenely offbeat, and caustically funny manner. The film is for those with a strong stomach and a seriously warped sense of humor. The film is so off the beaten track that it makes Monty Python seem mainstream.

A unique experiment, and one whose insights into human behavior aren't as important to it as its sense of curdled black humor. But we can't write it off as just a gonzo provocation. While I found parts of it diabolically clever and funny, I thought the setup was overlong and certain aspects of the production either didn't work or were needlessly overdone. More generous observers might cite the parallel with bad taste guru John Waters; but compared to this shallow crap, even the Baltimore Bard's offerings run deep.

Simon says The Happytime Murders receives: