THE HAPPYTIME MURDERS

I have to be honest, I’m still perplexed as to why this movie didn’t work. The talent was there, the trailer proved that it was funny, it was also a genuine detective story complete with husky voiceover from our protagonist, a sexy dame who walks into the office and lights it up with sexual tension, a secretary named Bubbles, conflict, action etc. So why does it fail? I would like to blame poor advertising - that is to say, great advertising - at the detriment of the master project. Those damn trailers that reveal too much and steal all the best material. Some could argue that there should be more than just 60 seconds of good material in the first place, and they'd be right, but here and now, the fact remains that happy, excited audiences will walk in, and disappointed ones will walk out. Is the downtrodden PI plus a feisty cop trope overdone? Maybe the juxtaposition was too jarring? I certainly got a ‘Sausage Party’ (2016) vibe, but given the pedigree of that team, I knew more about what I was walking into there than I did here. Perhaps it was because the large talent pool of incredible comedic actors such as Maya Rudolph, Elizabeth Banks and Joel McHale weren’t given nearly enough screen time, nor much to do once they got it. Or was the racism angle too real for today’s audiences?

Whatever the case, save yourself $20+ and an hour and half of your life and just check out the red band YouTube trailer up above. However, I did appreciate the behind-the-scenes blooper reel that played during the end credits.