Review of Being Elmo: A Puppeteer's Journey (2011) by Mic R — 29 Aug 2012

This is a rare, five star review from me. Why does it merit one? A couple of reasons: there are lots of worthy movies, even if only 5% of what gets made is worthy, that's hundreds of films. But this one is singular in that it is not just a documentary about a fascinating person we've probably never heard of before, but it will probably be worthy watching in 100 years. (We English majors tend to use that test-of-time thing frequently in making evaluations.).

The other reason is indeed the subject matter, a once shy boy from near Baltimore who follows his passion as far as it can go, Mr. Kevin Clash. Along the way, he meets and befriends heros of mine, especially Frank Oz and Jim Henson. In the film, we go from watching mentoring Clash gets from one of Henson's chief puppeteers, Kermit Love (they say the frog's name is a coincidence on Muppet Wiki), to seeing him as a man in his early 50s now returning the favor to a precocious puppet maker, who like him started making puppets as a yet younger child.

If you create things for a living, or create things because it matters to you, see this film. As I've said before, "If you don't tear up just a little, have a friend take your pulse.".

Reviewed August, 2012.