So, I wanted to put on a movie that I could easily ignore while I did some light sewing and my nails. Which is why, even though I've been meaning to see Brokeback Mountain again, it didn't make the cut. The Muppets Take Manhattan, however, seemed like just the thing.
And indeed it was....and so much more. Simple, charming, and utterly unbelievable, it was a delight to sort-of watch. Highlights include:
* A shockingly young Joan Rivers giving Miss Piggy a makeover that gets so out of control, both are fired from their department store jobs.
* A flashback to the Muppets' infancies, which I recently learned was the origination of the cartoon Muppet Babies, which I watched all. the. time. as a kid. It was a real hoot to see the animated characters I'm so familiar with portrayed as puppets, esp. since I hardly know the Muppets in any context aside from the cartoon.
* Realizing that the guy who decides to put Kermit's musical on Broadway is the same guy fromDirty Dancing who informs Baby that "sometimes, in this world, you see things you don't wanna see." And while he was great in that movie, he was born for the role of Muppet musical producer.
* And finally, the way Kermit just rolls with the punches when, after getting hit by a car, accepting the fact that he has amnesia, and establishing a successful career as an advertising exec, he is kidnapped by a bunch of animals, including a fat pig who punches him hard enough to make him remember who he is, and THEN, instantly accepts the fact that it's opening night of the Broadway show he hasn't rehearsed for, AND during the performance Miss Piggy tricks him into exchanging actual wedding vows....and he goes for it. The frog's a downright inspiration.
This concludes my only partly sarcastic rave review of The Muppets Take Manhattan.
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