Review: The Muppet Movie

Kermit The Frog is destined for stardom and heads for Hollywood, encountering the rest of the Muppets along the way. Various celebrities appear in cameos, with a more substantial appearance by Charles Durning as a crook trying to wrangle Kermit into his latest money-making scheme.

Although I’m probably a bit partial to “Muppet Christmas Carol”, you’d have to be pretty hard to please not to enjoy this James Frawley (“Kid Blue”, “The Big Bus”) directed, 1979 big-screen adventure for Jim Henson’s felt creations. Scripted by “The Muppet Show” writers  Jack Burns & Jerry Juhl, I’m not normally a fan of road movie plots, but in a way it’s the perfect story to be telling for the big-screen debut of these characters as we learn just how it all came to be that these characters found one another. It helps that The Muppets are great company and that it’s all over in about 90 minutes. This is a charming, really lovely film with a lot of heart and memorable characters. It’s even got nice location shooting, as filmed by cinematographer Isidore Mankofksy (“Somewhere in Time”), not something I expected to be commenting on in a Muppet movie. However, free of their TV studio surrounds from “The Muppet Show” for the most part, this film offers up scenes of the felt characters in outdoor settings like the swamp and open road. It’s interesting stuff, and you haven’t truly lived until you’ve seen Kermit The Frog ride a bicycle. Even in 2019 it’s a helluva thing to see, and I’m not entirely convinced that magic isn’t involved.

The opening few minutes of the film are probably my favourite. Firstly with a funny bit where the Muppets turn up to watch the movie in a theatre, including Statler and Waldorf turning up to critique it. I may not have liked their more recent outings as much post-“Christmas Carol”, but I really do love these characters a lot (Especially Gonzo, Rowlf the Dog, The Swedish Chef, Fozzy, Sam Eagle, and Statler and Waldorf). Then we’re treated to one of the most beautiful songs of all-time, Paul Williams’ ‘Rainbow Connection’, sung by Kermit The Frog (and yes that’s who sings it, damn it). I don’t know what it is about that song, but it takes me to a higher place. I didn’t take to the strangely popular songs for the more recent “The Muppets”, but Williams’ songs here are all pretty perfect. After that, Dom DeLuise turns up and it’s Muppets as usual, which is perfectly fine, don’t get me wrong. It’s just a little jarring, perhaps to follow up that beautiful, haunting song with the amusing but unsubtle stylings of Mr. DeLuise (who is certainly fun company for those who can tolerate him, which won’t be everyone). The celebrity cameos here are very 1979 (with a few pretty much on the wane, actually), with Telly Savalas, Madeline Kahn, songwriter Paul Williams himself, the cool-as-ever James Coburn, Elliott Gould, and rather surprisingly a profanity-free Richard Pryor. He’s not terribly good, but the real disappointing cameo comes from a surprisingly unfunny Mel Brooks (who I normally love), who tries too hard and seems like he thinks it’s one of his own movies and not a Muppet movie. A larger role is afforded to an oily and shifty Charles Durning, and the veteran character actor doesn’t disappoint. If there’s anything beyond the Muppets themselves and Williams’ songs that you remember here, it’ll be Durning, who doesn’t look down on the material at all. Austin Pendleton is pretty funny too, as Durning’s spineless lackey. Steve Martin has a funny role as a sarcastic waiter, but is wearing shorts and Steve Martin wearing shorts…is Steve Martin wearing shorts.

Other highlights here are the appearance by Dr. Teeth and The Electric Mayhem (the coolest band not found on Mos Eisley), and a genuinely funny parody of romantic couplings as Kermit and Miss Piggy first meet. There’s even use of soft focus photography for cryin’ out loud. I have to say that poor Piggy does get saddled with the film’s one dud song, and clearly can’t sing, either (Yes, I’m actually comfortable typing that sentence). She’s probably my least favourite Muppet, though so you might take to her better than I did here. Fozzie Bear, meanwhile is as hilariously awful a comedian as you could ever find. He’s always been a favourite of mine, and for some reason seeing him drive a car here cracked me up. I honestly can’t explain why, it’s just true. It leads to a wonderfully awful line: ‘A bear in his natural habitat- A Studebaker!’. One of my other favourites, Gonzo gets several choice moments too including telling Piggy: ‘If you were a chicken, you’d be im-peckable’. His song tugs on the heartstrings a bit, too. He’s always been a bit of a misfit, no one seems to know if he’s a bird or an alien, which would ultimately lead to (the frankly disappointing) “Muppets From Space”. Rowlf the Dog doesn’t get a whole lot of screen time (He’s always underused in my view) but has a funny duet with Kermit singing about women. I think it’s a bit sad – and frankly a little odd – that everyone’s favourite Swedish Chef is tasked with playing…a cinema projectionist here. Huh? A waste of the very funny character, too. Speaking of a waste, it’s funny how Scooter gets introduced early and ends up lost in the shuffle. Even “The Muppet Movie” doesn’t like Scooter, damn it. I don’t mind him actually, but it just reminded me of the ‘Scooter sucks!’ bit from “The Big Bang Theory” episode where the gang contemplate getting dressed up as the Muppet Babies for Halloween. The Muppets aren’t just for kids, in fact I often think they’re wasted on the young. So there’s plenty of gags here for adults too, the best being the hired ‘Frog Killer’, played by Scott Walker. Why? Because Walker is a dead-ringer for long-time nutjob villain Klaus Kinski. I initially assumed it was Kinski, so it took me a few seconds to get the gag, not to mention it’s pretty obscure.

Lots of fun, this initial big-screen outing for Jim Henson’s creations is certainly very 1979 in its movie star cameo casting. However, it’s a really lovely, adorable, and sometimes very funny film.

Rating: B