The Muppets

The best that the marquee had to offer was the Muppets this Saturday, and it tastefully filled our date night needs.

Jason Segel and Amy Adams are two of about the cleanest-cut actors around these days, so they mixed right in with Gonzo, Kermit, Piggy, Animal and dozens of other Muppet characters battling to save their mostly-abandoned studio from being taken over by a rich oil baron after decades of neglect.

The fresh angle here is that it's mostly the story of a "boy" named Walter who's really a Muppet and is Segel's brother. He's comfortable but a bit out of place in his boyhood world. His lifelong passion to meet the Muppets fuels the heart of the adventure.

The movie never takes itself too seriously. At times they openly acknowledge that they're in a movie. They brazenly invent a new means of travel to overcome what would otherwise have required an extra half hour of story line to accommodate.

The 90-minute nostalgic journey has enough subplot lines running through it to keep it interesting, and a healthy smattering of light-hearted musical numbers. The  good guys/gals/props live happily ever after. Anyone who watched the Muppet Show growing up will enjoy the old gang's attempt to put on one last show.