The Muppets (2011) * * *

Directed by:  James Bobin

Starring:  Jason Segel, Amy Adams, Chris Cooper, Rashida Jones, The Muppets


The Muppets is a sly, sentimental, and amusing comedy about the beloved Jim Henson creations that bring themselves back from irrelevancy.     In the 70's and 80's, The Muppet Show and subsequent movies were big hits featuring cameos by big stars who had a sense of humor about sharing screen time with Miss Piggy.     Jim Henson died in 1990 and the last Muppet feature film was released in 1999.    One of the truly funny bits in the history of Family Guy was a reference to "wrong sounding Muppets", which poked fun at Muppet voices which didn't quite sound like they used to.    Kermit had a deep voice, Swedish chef was coherent, and Fozzie Bear sounded just like Michael Clarke Duncan.   

Who knew The Muppets had anything left to give us?   But they do and it's a lot of fun.    As The Muppets opens, Gary (Segel) is living with his lifelong friend Walter, who is a Muppet and wonders why he feels displaced.    Gary's longtime girlfriend Mary (Adams) wants to move in with him, but having Walter around makes a crowd.    The three travel to Hollywood on a vacation of sorts and they stumble across the old Muppet Theater now scheduled for demolition by oil billionaire Tex Richman (Cooper).   Richman wants to drill for oil, while Gary, Walter, and Mary want to save the dilapidated theater.    What to do?   Well, get the Muppet gang back together and put on a Muppet Show telethon of course.   

Gary and company first visit Kermit, who lives in a large, dark, lonely house pining for the old days when the Muppets ruled the world.    After convincing Kermit to give it a go, they gather the crew up and manage to strike a TV deal with a coarse executive (Jones), who may have a soft spot in her heart for the Muppets (assuming she has a heart).    Miss Piggy, who runs a Paris fashion magazine, comes aboard even though Kermit left her at the altar some years back.    They fix up the theater while Kermit scrounges for guest stars in his very outdated Rolodex:     "Hello?  President Carter?"  

Everything manages to work itself out in the end.   The plot isn't necessarily relevant in a movie like this anyway.    The Muppets pokes fun at itself and knows all too well that their heyday was waning when Ronald Reagan was President... in his first term.     There are even a few musical numbers, which includes the Oscar-winning "Man Or Muppet", although not too many.    The human cast has a ball and the Muppets remain delightful.     There is not a whole lot more you can ask for.