There is a reference to a famous cartoon series toward
the end of the film. Robert Lloyd said in his review, “Whether it’s there as an
act of homage or an admission of guilt, I don’t know, but the movie is very
much a variation on a theme by “Scooby-Doo” — if the gang had some light family
business to resolve.”
Written by Tim Burns and Christopher Baldi, the film
is based on a story and characters created in 1968 by the late Jim Henson and
his former writing partner, Jerry Juhl. As we all know, Henson created the
Muppets and they now work Disney, which has made them stuck under contract to
an ABC sitcom, while the Jim Henson Co. does other work (including Fusion’s
puppet panel show, “No, You Shut Up!”).
Even though there are some small suggestive humor,
this is an old-school film at you would see from watching it. Director Kirk
Thatcher, who also made “A Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie” and “The Muppets’
Wizard of Oz,” knows what to do.
Lloyd said, “The setup recalls a thousand such
seasonal movies, another 600 of which will be made this year by the Hallmark
Channel.” Jay Harrington plays a recently divorced father who goes to spend
Thanksgiving with his eccentric aunt, played by Mary Steenburgen, in a famous town
off the grid, in the woods.
He brings his two children: his son (Graham Verchere)
is excitable and intrusive, and his daughter (Genevieve Buechner) is suspicious
and bored. Lloyd mentioned, “Like Hansel and Gretel and their many fairy tale
siblings, they will go into that forest, where a Bigfoot-type creature is said
to lurk.”
The parts are classically assigned. Lloyd noted, “In
addition to the family, there are a greedy villain (Linden Banks), henchmen in
assorted sizes, an almost amorous sheriff (Reese Alexander) and — what I
suppose might strictly speaking be considered a spoiler, but given the
provenance, no less than you should expect — some friendly monsters, played by
puppets.” They’re not Muppets and they’re in the ads.
Lloyd credited, “And, as in “Our Town” and, oh, lots
of things, there is an onstage narrator, played by a very amusing Chris
“Ludacris” Bridges in a Mr. Rogers cardigan. He brings the meta (“Am I on? I
thought somebody called lunch,” “Does that say ‘tragically slayed’ or
‘magically saved’? I can barely see the cue cards”), and he brings it well.”
Everyone plays their part well, but Steenburgen is the
highlight. Even in the one of the lesser moments, she’s always worth watching. Without
changing much about her person, she can go from innocent to cruel with no problem
at all.
Here, she has some grey hair to play a little bully,
more than slightly grumpy old woman, someone who loves the world but is less
sure about people. She is not a hugger. Strangely, the film respects this: Aunt
Cly is not, in the usual way of things, someone who can be cracked open. She’s
doing just fine.
The flaws include the predictability that you have
seen in other holiday specials and “Scooby-Doo.” Lloyd pointed out, “And there
is perhaps a little too much whimsicality in the score, which needlessly
doubles down on the whimsy already on screen.” The film is best at its least
sentimental, and it is mainly not sentimental.
Overall, this is nice, solid entertainment for
everyone, modest in its ambitions yet far above the amount of made-for-TV
holiday specials that were seen after that. This one has puppets.
This is currently streaming on Disney+ and Amazon
Prime. If you check it out, I don’t think it will hurt as I think it does its
job fine, but I don’t know if this is something I will remember. Check it out
and enjoy.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone. I know probably like everyone else I am looking forward to the dinner tonight. Just make sure you don’t overindulge, even though I know we’re all guilty of doing that. Stay tuned tomorrow for the finale of “Buddy Cop Month.”
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