Well-played, Disney.
You know, I give the generic poorly-scripted romantic comedy a hard time in print, and that seems very, very mean of me. After all, they can’t help it. The audience will pay to see the same formula a bazillion times over, and if they don’t have to try any harder than they already are, then why bother?
Jason Segel and Amy Adams, though, are fairly appealing, and in this case, I’m willing to give “Green With Envy” a chance. After all, James Bobin is directing and his work on “Flight Of The Conchords” was always sharp and funny, so I’ll give him a chance.
I’m having a hard time understanding what the hook is, though. Doesn’t look like anybody body-switches or gets amnesia or is aging backwards or anything that might typically motivate a sort of high-concept riff on the romantic comedy. Is this really just as simple as “Love struck meets star struck when a small town couple (Amy Adams, Jason Segel) head to Hollywood and discover their dreams of hitting the big time may cost them the one thing that matters most – each other”?
Look at the trailer and tell me what you think:
Ooooohhhhh! There are Muppets in it!
I love that Disney went the distance with the iTunes page and really pretended this is a different movie. They’ve got a huge brand here, and reintroducing the Muppets to people is important. I think this is a very gentle, funny way of doing it, and right away, it feels correct. It feels like the spirit that the Muppets have always embodied.
Boy, I hope they get this one right.
“Green With Envy”… er, I mean “The Muppets”… will open in theaters November 23, 2011.