Jim Henson: Idea Man
Jim Henson: Idea Man is streaming on Disney+ at the time of writing. Not rated. Mr F says 7+.
STORY: C+
It’s a wide look at Henson’s career, but not a deep one.
Director Ron Howard chooses to cover everything Jim Henson ever did. Which is a lot. That means in order to keep the movie to a reasonable runtime, he’s got to sprint through the long list of Henson’s amazing works.
The movie’s a fantastic source of information. But its narrative speed prevents us from getting many glimpses of the aspect that made Henson’s art so special: its magic. That means the movie’s emotional pull comes from a product of our knowledge and memories, instead of the film’s content.
PEOPLE: C
Jim Henson, still a man of mystery.
The film spends lots of time talking to Henson’s closest friends and family. But they talk more about what it was like being with him rather than Henson himself. It seems those closest to him couldn’t even fathom his genius.
Which, despite the lack of hard information, does tell us a whole lot about him.
FILM NERD STUFF: B
The movie cleverly uses Henson’s creations themselves to frame his story.
Before you get too excited: no, Kermit’s not the narrator. But Howard tells Henson’s story using elements of his lesser known animation and short film work (things like clocks, blue bricked walls, animated faces).
Most of us aren’t capable of fully grasping Henson’s genius. But using this technique brings us one step closer inside of his brilliant imagination.
ELECTIVE CLASS (What did YOU do today?): C+
The film serves as an inkblot test about achievement culture.
We live in a society that typically values people based on what they achieve. And as we know, the price of fully devoting your life to your work can be steep.
Jim Henson: Idea Man doesn’t shy away from the costs that Henson paid. Nor does it feel any guilt celebrating all the wonderful things his achievements did for society.
We all have our own dreams and talents. The movie seems to ask us, “What will you do with them?”
FINAL COMMENTS:
Jim Henson: Idea Man is a heartwarming, nostalgic trip down memory lane for those of us lucky enough to grow up in the warm glow of Jim Henson’s genius.
While the film is wonderful, in one way, it does feel like the cinematic equivalent of a Wikipedia page.
If you’ve spent any time on Wikipedia, you’ve noticed most of its entries give huge amounts of screen space to a person’s accomplishments and then spend only a few lines on the subject’s personal life.
The film covers a ton about the classics: Sesame Street, The Muppet Show, The Muppet Movie, Fraggle Rock. We learn about his mind bending, lesser known works as well.
To be fair, the film also spends a good amount of its real estate interviewing Henson’s family and friends. But despite several intimate interviews, the audience gets very little insight into who the man is. Perhaps that’s just the way it goes with geniuses.