Review of The Great Muppet Caper (1981) by Rebecca H — 05 Jul 2009

Hmm. Well, the Muppets are great. But the Caper? Not so much.

In the fine tradition established in The Muppet Movie, our furry heroes spend a lot of their time winking at the audience. We open with Kermit, Fozzie and Gonzo getting bored that the credits are taking so long. There's a ton of fourth-wall-bashing, looking at the camera, that sort of thing, and it's all very funny. But the actual plot is something of a dud, which you wouldn't expect to be much of a problem in a film featuring Muppets, but honestly, it is.

On the trail of some missing jewellry, our three heroes - two reporters and a photographer, with Kermit and Fozzie playing gloriously inexplicable "identical twins" - end up in England. They promptly arrive at the only free hotel in London, where they meet a lot of other Muppets. Kermit meets Miss Piggy, the receptionist for the person he's come to interview, and he mistakes her for the real Lady Holliday. Then, the plot stalls, so we can spend ages reheating the Kermit / Miss Piggy romance. Honestly, we've seen it before. Why keep doing it?

Charles Grodin is delightful as Lady Holliday's brother - a self-professed "parasite" - and it doesn't take much guesswork to finger him as the villain. And hey, that's a great idea, as is the surreally funny subplot of him being in love with Miss Piggy. (There's something utterly hilarious about an actor being completely straight with a Muppet.) The problem is that the film gives him three dull female cohorts. Also, it's tough to care about the thing he's actually trying to steal.

The cameos are once again a highlight. John Cleese has a brilliant scene as a - what else? - befuddled Englishman, and Peter Ustinov shines as a lorry driver. (It's funnier than it sounds.) Diana Rigg gets the somewhat thankless role of Lady Holiday.

The songs stink again, and the middle part of the film just feels like padding, as they've once again elected for a paperthin plot. The cleverness just about saves it this time, but it's starting to feel like they're not mocking these monosyllabic stories after all - so why, then, bother using them? The Great Muppet Caper is still a fun, funny movie, with some grand running jokes and many hilarious moments. It's just not clear how many more times they can do the same thing.