Its log line is ‘No Sesame, All Street’ in this raunchy often off-putting cop buddy film that teams Melissa McCarthy with a Muppet. The film is even directed by Brian Henson son of the legendary Puppeteer, Jim Henson. Given how evil it feels, Brian must want pay-back on his dad, for growing up in a muppet household. This is far from any tribute. it’s quite possibly the worse and most unnecessary film of the year.
In the City of Angels, and one by one, sugar-addicted, fetish-addicted, porn-addicted puppets are being murdered. There’s six of them, and they collectively hail from a popular 80’s children’s TV show. Elizabeth Banks is a ‘human’ love interest to one of the puppets (spoiler alert) as is Maya Rudolph as a secretary with a heart and a nonchalant attitude.
One of the muppet/puppets, Phill Phillips (Bill Barretta) is a disgraced LAPD detective-turned private eye who teams with Melissa McCarthy to find the killer. Phillips mannerisms are reminiscent of DeNiro meets Tony Soprano. The one liners are hilarious, and they seem to stretch from one scene to another, and even on time and funny, but ironically it doesn’t work. There’s little cohesiveness in this ridiculous, hilarious and highly abrasive film. If Avenue Q stole our hearts on Broadway, this one steals the ‘stuffing’ right out of our souls.