The HAPPYTIME MURDERS 1.5***

     Rated R for strong crude sexual content and language throughout, and some drug material.

I’m putting the “R” rating first because this is NOT a children’s movie !!! In  fact many adults will or should forego this movie because the simulated sex going on with the puppets is so graphic and crude that many will be offended. You ask how can that be with puppets, well they figured it out.

The story:  Puppets live in L.A. along with humans, but only as second-class residents. The puppet hero is Phil, a down-and-out private detective, salvaging a meager living after being booted from the  LA police force for an unfortunate incident. He's a classic example of a film-noir PI, complete with a dumpy office in a seedy area, and a devoted ditzy secretary (Maya Rudolph). When the puppets who starred in an old sitcom called the Happytime Gang start getting bumped off, his efforts to solve the crimes  lead to his reluctantly reuniting with his former LA police partner (McCarthy).   Enter Melissa McCarthy in her normal foul-mouthed role. She swears in direct proportion to how un-funny her role is; as if doing that will make up for a really bad script. In this she doesn't need to swear too much but she does anyway.  

It gets very weird. This is what happens when sexually repressed puppeteers have to do nice, fluffy kiddie films for fifty years. When they finally get a chance let go: they really let go. Including bad language, graphic simulated puppet sex (including Phil having hot and heavy sex with another puppet and shooting a ton of silly string all over his office  but not with his gun),  and cow-milking with extreme prejudice. I think the Director wanted to embarrass the audience and succeeded quite well. Although indulging in a lot of tastelessly vulgar stuff may have been meant to provide humor, it actually proves to be quite off-putting and more offensive than funny.  

On one positive note, I will say the puppetry is excellent. The puppeteers and technical wizardry behind making these puppets characters as convincing and believable as they are is an achievement. But all the negatives of the movie far offset the fine puppetry.