Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.

This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

What else can you expect when the Muppets don't take Manhattan but steal the show from cameo celebrities and a plot to get their musical on Broadway called "Manhattan Melodies." The Muppet gang finished college in some small town New England and go to the big city. Kermit and the gang try but unsuccessfully at first to get Manhattan Melodies. Kermit and the gang split up and get jobs in various places. Miss Piggy works at a department store with Joan Rivers. Kermit works at a diner with Jenny. Kermit comes with innovative ways especially the scene at Sardis where he replaces Liza Minnelli's picture with his own in her cameo. There are plenty of celebrities like the three term Mayor Ed Koch; Gregory Hines in Central Park; Brooke Shields at the diner; Linda Lavin as Kermit's doctor; Elliott Gould; James Coco; Dabney Coleman; Gates McFadden and more. The story and songs are entertaining and likable. Jim Henson was still alive and this film was done in his adoptive city.

Not as well remembered or watched as The Muppet Movie or Muppet Christmas Carol, The Muppets Take Manhattan starts off strong and funny with a lot of classic Muppet humour. There's the family- friendly, nice musical numbers, followed by touches of adult comedy. We have Animal chasing a woman at college, with Kermit capping it with a hilarious therapy punchline. The wonderful Rizzo the Rat, overlooked in The Muppet Movie and with a smaller role in The Muppet Caper, bursts forth in full force here- the rats in the restaurant is a perfect concept, and Rizzo passing on the Muppets' table when they mention being cash-strapped is quick, smart humour. ("What a rat"). Rizzo is the creation not of Jim Henderson but of Steve Whitmire, who was sadly shipped off from the Muppet Studio and Disney earlier this month. He will be missed.Unfortunately, as with Caper, and unlike The Muppet Movie, The Muppets Take Manhattan also suffers from running out of steam in the second half. You know things are going to slow down when our heroes sing a sad song about parting ways; the rats have a marvellous, energetic scene in the kitchen, but the others have less success, with even Gonzo's latest chaotic stunt (this one involving a boat) being a bust. When Kermit loses his memory (an old cliché), we have some nice touches- the joke about him probably being a missing resident with an Italian name from a nudist colony is edgy ("I don't feel Italian," he says). The frogs he joins up are amusing in a weirdly anemic way, suiting the amnesiac Kermit's new demeanour. You know, from the cliché, that what will get Kermit's memory back is a good hit to the noggin, and you know, given Piggy's propensity for violence, that she will deliver it. But what's great is how insulting Kermit gets to provoke it. ("Will be bringing home the bacon! Sue-ee!") Hiiii-yaaah. RIP, the great Jim Henson- and so long, the talented Steve Whitmire.

The best Muppet movies are the ones that use a high concept idea The Muppet Christmas Carol, while the worst tend to be the latter-day television specials which are cheap, and in-jokey with little substance. Even the newer movies sell themselves on pop culture cameos more than innovation. Muppets Take Manhattan is middle ground, being too inoffensive to stand out and not imaginative enough to impress.It's all about Kermit wanting to put on a show (which is almost every damn Muppet movie in existence) on Broadway and his efforts to be taken seriously. The rest of the gang lose faith extremely quickly and abandon him (some friends!) leaving Kermit to bluff his way into an industry that wants nothing to do with him. Not taking no for an answer, he persists. If this is a somewhat autobiographical tale of Jim Henson and Frank Oz's humble beginnings it does lend a credible edge to the material. I think that Henson/Oz do their best work when being daring and edgy (The Dark Crystal , Little Shop of Horrors, and this Muppet adventure, being shot in and around the real Manhattan instead of studio sets, stops just a little shy of that. Kermit keeps complaining that the script for his big show is lacking "something" that he can't quite figure out. I believe that this was a meta moment for Henson/Oz as this movie also lacks just the little extra spark it needs to be a real classic.Still better than the sanitized Disney Muppets we are stuck with these days.(Jason Voorhees fans will get the little joke in my review title)

This cheerful, sad, funny and a little soppy at times is an excellent kids movie from the 80's. Grew up remembering seeing it on TV but not fully appreciating it until I was older. This movie in my eyes made the Muppets as great movie makers. Prior to this I knew of the Muppets only on the show but once they were rocketed into the film making business from this movie on they got much better. Muppets Christmas Carol and Muppets Treasure Island owe in part their success to this grand movie. Long may the Muppets inspire joy and love and make ever more films. Becoming a success on film which what this movie did meant that the Muppets were as good on film as they were on TV. Jim Henson and Frank Oz brought the Muppets to life over the previous Movies and the TV show and they are to be congratulated for creating such great characters. Jim Henson must also be thanked for his work on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.