kipknee

I actually saw this movie in the theater back in it's original release. It was painful to watch Peter Sellers embarrass himself so badly. The story was incredibly lame and difficult to follow, and the ending was ridiculous. It was just sad to see how the mighty had fallen. I won't say that I'm a huge Peter Sellers fan, but I did thoroughly enjoy the Pink Panther series and I felt that he gave a strong performance in Being There. But this film should never have been made. From what I've read, he pursued producing this film against the advice of the people around him. Fine, but that still doesn't excuse the studio actually releasing the film.

This movie will probably appeal to the current flock of MTV fans. It has all the naughty humor, celebrities du jour and predictable plot that will more than satisfy the current 2 second attention span of today's post-adolescents.

However, as a family movie, it is simply pathetic and certainly not something that Jim Henson (or even Frank Oz, noticeably absent from this production) would've ever signed his name to. Certainly, Jim would never have approved of a muppet character admiring cleavage or another male character admiring Kermit's "tookus". Fortunately this movie is not representative of the quality Muppet movies produced over the years, of which we are big fans.

I predict that the used bins of many a video store will be filled with copies of this movie after the holidays.

This is a fantastic movie, and proof that Steve Martin is more than just a comedian. The movie is well done, with solid character development and great direction. The production really captures the essence of the midwest setting. The gospel music - a joint effort between George Duke and Edwin Hawkins - is also great. The story itself is very thought-provoking and emotional. Contrary to what another reviewer said here, the ending is great and was the perfect climax to a thoughtful story. (How the other reviewer considered the ending to be pointless is beyond me. Oh well, pearls before swine and all that.) Excellent movie!