Movie Review: Being Elmo

This weekend we went to see Being Elmo. We had to drive 30 minutes and sit in a hot and kind of stinky theater, but it was definitely worth it.

The movie is basically the story of Kevin Clash, the man who is the movement, voice and personality of the beloved muppet Elmo. The film first chronicles his childhood, during which his love of puppets started and grew, and moves on to his career as a puppeteer. We learned how he met adversity from his peers, but gained confidence and knowledge by working with masters like Jim Henson and Frank Oz (Kermit & Miss Piggy, as well as Ernie & Bert for those of you who don't know). And of course we find out how Elmo came to be and how Clash has been dedicated to the essence of Elmo's character throughout the tremendous growth in the little red puppet's popularity.

My thoughts on the film; well like the poster says it was a "feel good movie". I was amazed that Clash was able to find his passion at such a young age, and makes it into something fantastic, especially when I feel most of us might never find out true passion. I know I haven't found mine yet. I also enjoyed the fact that Clash is a genuinely good person and that it comes through the love Elmo shows towards everyone. I know I would have been thoroughly disappointed if Clash turned out to be a jerks, and my perceptions of Elmo as pure niceness ruined.

One other thing I have to mention about this film was I was so surprised about how much old footage they had. For instance, they have film of the first meeting between Clash and renowned puppet maker Kermit Love. How the heck did they get that?! The story was that Clash went off on his own to meet Love while on a school trip to NYC, but it's all filmed as if they had been making the documentary all along. Baffling to me, but quite cool that they had it.

Check here to see if Being Elmo is playing by you. If it's not, there's an option that let's you "demand it" to try to get it playing in your town.

~emy