Sex, Drugs and Murder – with Puppets – in “The Happytime Murders” Trailer

I've been eagerly anticipating The Happytime Murders for almost a decade now. First announced in 2008, it languished in development hell, with actors like Cameron Diaz, Katherine Heigl and Jamie Foxx all rumored to play the partner of a puppet detective. But now, this trailer proves it's finally real.

Helmed by long-time Muppets director Brian Henson – who made such childhood classics as The Muppet Christmas Carol and Muppet Treasure Island – the film goes in a much less family-friendly director than what his father Jim Henson envisioned. Set in a semi-fictional Los Angeles, The Happytime Murders is a neo-noir comedy, as Detective Connie Edwards (Melissa McCarthy) and disgraced ex-cop Phil Phillips (puppeteer Bill Baretta) team up again to solve a string of puppet murders in the city.

Along for the wild ride are Joel McHale as an FBI agent, Elizabeth Banks as a stripper, and Maya Rudolph as Phil's long-suffering secretary. The film has about a thousand times more F-words, head shots and drug use than you'd expect from the Muppets, though it's not that crazy if you're a fan of Avenue Q.

The Happytime Murders finally hits theaters on Friday, August 17.

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About Kip Mooney

Kip Mooney
Like many film critics born during and after the 1980s, my hero is Roger Ebert. The man was already the best critic in the nation when he won the Pulitzer in 1975, but his indomitable spirit during and after his recent battle with cancer keeps me coming back to read not only his reviews but his insightful commentary on the everyday. But enough about a guy you know a lot about. I knew I was going to be a film critic—some would say a snob—in middle school, when I had to voraciously defend my position that The Royal Tenenbaums was only a million times better than Adam Sandler’s remake of Mr. Deeds. From then on, I would seek out Wes Anderson’s films and avoid Sandler’s like the plague. Still, I like to think of myself as a populist, and I’ll be just as likely to see the next superhero movie as the next Sundance sensation. The thing I most deplore in a movie is laziness. I’d much rather see movies with big ambitions try and fail than movies with no ambitions succeed at simply existing. I’m also a big advocate of fun-bad movies like The Room and most of Nicolas Cage’s work. In the past, I’ve written for The Dallas Morning News and the North Texas Daily, which I edited for a semester. I also contributed to Dallas-based Pegasus News, which in the circle of life, is now part of The Dallas Morning News, where I got my big break in 2007. Eventually, I’d love to write and talk about film full-time, but until that’s a viable career option, I work as an auditor for Wells Fargo. I hope to one day meet my hero, go to the Toronto International Film Festival, and compete on Jeopardy. Until then, I’m excited to share my love of film with you.

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