Featured Blu-ray and DVD Review: The Happytime Murders
December 4, 2018
The Happytime Murders - Reviews - Buy from Amazon: DVD, or Blu-ray Combo Pack
The screener for The Happytime Murders arrived technically on time, but late enough that I was barely able to get the review finished on Tuesday. The film failed to connect with audiences or with critics. Is it as bad as its Tomatometer Score would indicate? Or should more people have watched it in theaters.
Bill Barretta stars as Phil Philips, a puppet living in Los Angeles. He was the first puppet to become a cop, and the last. A shooting incident involving a puppet assailant and an innocent bystander got Phil kicked off the force and all puppets banned from becoming cops. Now he works as a private investigator. He gets a client, Sandra White, a puppet with sex addiction who is being blackmailed. Phil thinks he has a lead at a puppet porn store. However, while in the back looking through customer records, someone enters the store and kills everyone, including Bumblypants, a friend of Phil.
At first, it looks like a hit on the store owner, but Phil meets up with Larry, his brother, who was on a TV show, The Happytime Gang, with Bumblypants. It’s about to get a syndication deal worth millions. Then, when Larry is the next to die, Phil realizes the syndication deal must be the the reason. His old boss, Lieutenant Banning “hires” Phil as a consultant and forces him to work with his ex-partner, Detective Connie Edwards. The pair left on bad terms, as Edwards testified against him in the aftermath of the shooting incident. He does have reasons to stick with the case, as Jenny, his ex-girlfriend, was also on the show and could be the next to die.
In order to like The Happytime Murders, you have to be a little demented. Fortunately, I am. Even if you ignore the puppet aspect of the movie, it actually works as a Film Noir type mystery. This is important, because if the central mystery isn’t engaging, none of the rest of the movie matters. Additionally, the cast is excellent and Bill Barretta and Melissa McCarthy have great chemistry together, both as antagonists and later as partners trying to solve the crime.
On the other hand, there are some serious downsides. The movie tries too hard to be transgressive. It is as if the filmmakers are smacking you over the head while saying, “Can you believe how naughty we are in this puppet show?” If they had toned down this aspect a little bit, it would have helped the movie overall. Additionally, there is too much improv. Some improv can work, but it becomes too obvious when there is an abundance of improv and that can hurt more than it helps.
Extras begin with an audio commentary with the director, Brian Henson, and the star, Bill Barretta. The other six extras can be broken down into two categories. There are three short featurettes that look at the special effects used to make the movie. There are also deleted scenes, outtakes, and a Line-o-Rama.
I enjoyed The Happytime Murders, for the most part. It was a good Film Noir mystery with a puppet twist. The filmmakers did try to push the boundaries of good taste too often and the amount of improv hurt, but overall I enjoyed it. The extras on the DVD and Blu-ray Combo Pack are good, but I would still recommend a rental before buying. And even then, only if you enjoy R-rated comedies.
Video on Demand
The Movie
The Extras
The Verdict
Filed under: Video Review, The Happytime Murders, Elizabeth Banks, Bill Barretta, Kevin Clash, Brian Henson, Melissa McCarthy, Victor Yerrid, Leslie David Baker, Dorien Davies