The Happytime Murders
The Happytime Murders is a 2018 American adult puppet buddy cop crime comedy film directed by Brian Henson and written by Todd Berger from a story by Berger and Dee Austin Robertson. The film stars Melissa McCarthy, Bill Barretta, Joel McHale, Maya Rudolph, Leslie David Baker, and Elizabeth Banks. Set in a world where humans and living puppets co-exist, the film follows a puppet private investigator and a human police detective who must solve a murder spree of retired sitcom stars.
The Happytime Murders
- Todd Berger
- Dee Austin Robertson
- Brian Henson
- Jeffrey Hayes
- Melissa McCarthy
- Ben Falcone
- Melissa McCarthy
- Bill Barretta
- Joel McHale
- Maya Rudolph
- Leslie David Baker
- Elizabeth Banks
Brian Olds
- August 24, 2018 (United States)
91 minutes
United States
English
$40–47 million[1]
$27.5 million[2]
The film was first announced in 2008 by The Jim Henson Company, the production studio of Muppets creator Jim Henson. Various actors, including Cameron Diaz, Katherine Heigl and Jamie Foxx, were approached to star before McCarthy signed on in May 2017. Filming began in Los Angeles that September, and involved the use of over 120 puppets. The Happytime Murders was the first film released by Henson Alternative, a banner of The Jim Henson Company aimed toward adult audiences.
The Happytime Murders was released on August 24, 2018, by STXfilms. It received mostly negative reviews from critics for its humor, performances and story, though the puppetry received praise. The film was a box-office bomb, grossing $27.5 million worldwide against a $40–47 million budget. The film received six nominations at the 39th Golden Raspberry Awards, including Worst Picture, with McCarthy winning Worst Actress.
Plot[edit]
In a world where living puppets coexist with humans but are treated as second-class citizens, Phil Phillips was the first puppet cop on the LAPD before being fired. Now a private investigator with a human secretary named Bubbles, he is hired by puppet client Sandra White to discover the identity of her blackmailer. Phil investigates a lead at a puppet-owned porn shop. While he checks their records in a back room, an attacker kills everyone else present including Mr. Bumblypants, a former cast member of the beloved sitcom The Happytime Gang.
The LAPD arrives and Phil meets with his former partner Detective Connie Edwards. Twelve years prior, Edwards was being held at gunpoint by a puppet perpetrator. Phil tried to shoot him, but missed and hit an innocent puppet, killing him in front of his young daughter. Edwards testified against Phil and a law was enacted preventing puppets from becoming police officers. In the present, Edwards believes it was a robbery gone wrong. Phil believes it was murder, since no money was taken. That night, Phil's brother Larry "Shenanigans" Phillips, a former Happytime Gang cast-member, is torn apart when someone lets dogs onto his property. Afterwards, Phil reluctantly joins forces with Edwards to find the killer.
Suspecting someone is killing the Happytime Gang cast to receive a larger share of the royalty money when the show becomes syndicated, the two track down former Happytime Gang cast-member Lyle in a puppet drug-den, where it is revealed that Phil saved Edwards by getting her an emergency puppet liver transplant. Lyle is killed in a drive-by shooting in front of Phil. After having sexual intercourse with Sandra and escaping the FBI, Phil goes to see Jenny, the only human Happytime Gang cast-member and his former girlfriend, at a puppet strip club where she works. Phil is unable to protect her when her car explodes. The police see Phil leaving the scene and believe him to be responsible for the murders.
Phil hides at Edwards's apartment and they discover that former Happytime Gang member Goofer has apparently overdosed and drowned. They go to the house of the two remaining Happytime Gang members Ezra and Cara only to find their mangled bodies. The FBI arrives and detains Phil and Edwards. Phil is shown Sandra in an interrogation room. She reveals that she and Jenny are married and claims that Phil killed Jenny and the others to keep Sandra for himself.
Edwards is suspended from duty and enlists Bubbles for help exonerating Phil. They break into Sandra's home and discover a hidden room containing plans for the deaths of the Happytime Gang stars and a frameup of Phil. Edwards notices a picture of the puppet Phil accidentally shot years ago, and realizes that Sandra is the daughter of the man he accidentally shot and is seeking revenge against Phil. Bubbles triggers a booby trap, which ignites a fire destroying all the evidence. Afterwards, Edwards breaks Phil out of jail so they can stop Sandra.
Phil and Edwards race to the airport, where Sandra is planning to escape with the sitcom's royalty money. Phil apologizes for killing her father, saying it has haunted him all the years since and asks why the Happytime Gang stars had to die when the blame was his alone. Sandra says she wanted Phil to suffer as payback. It is revealed that Jenny is alive, having faked her death, and is in cahoots with Sandra. After Phil reveals Sandra's true history, Sandra knocks Jenny out to take the money for herself. Sandra holds Edwards at gunpoint, putting Edwards and Phil in the same position as twelve years before. Phil takes his shot, doesn't miss this time, and kills Sandra.
Edwards's police superior Banning arrives to congratulate Phil and Edwards on solving the case. He restores Edwards to active duty and convinces the mayor to lift the ban on puppet cops, welcoming Phil back on the force. Phil asks Bubbles on a date, which she accepts.
Reception[edit]
Box office[edit]
The Happytime Murders has grossed $20.7 million in the United States and Canada, and $6.8 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $27.5 million, against a production budget of around $40 million.[2]
In the United States and Canada, The Happytime Murders was released alongside A.X.L., and was projected to gross $13–15 million from 3,225 theaters in its opening weekend.[20] The film grossed $950,000 from Thursday night previews, better than the $700,000 made by McCarthy's Life of the Party three months prior. It went on to debut to $9.5 million, marking the lowest opening of McCarthy's career as a lead.[1] It fell 54% in its second weekend to $4.4 million, finishing eighth.[21]
Critical response[edit]
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 23% based on 248 reviews, with an average rating of 4/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "The Happytime Murders wastes its intriguingly transgressive premise on a witless comedy that blindly pushes buttons instead of attempting to tell an entertaining story."[22] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 27 out of 100, based on 48 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[23] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "C−" on an A+ to F scale, the lowest of McCarthy's career as a lead, while PostTrak reported filmgoers gave it an "awful" 58% overall positive score.[1]
Jess Fenton for Switch wrote:
