Murray Flurry

I just watched A Very Murray Christmas on Netflix.  It's a rather ramshackle affair, though not without its (very slight) charms.

It stars Bill Murray, of course, and only he could even come close to pulling it off.  The plot, such as it is, is about Bill Murray the celebrity required to do a live Christmas special.  He's staying at a suite in the Carlyle during a ferocious winter storm.  He doesn't want to do the show but his producers explain it's already set up, so he goes downstairs to shoot it, though without much cheer.  That's act one.  There's a blackout which ends the live broadcast.  He walks over to the Carlyle's bar/restaurant and hangs out for a while, singing Christmas songs with the people there.  Act two.  He drinks enough to fall unconscious and has a dream of a more heavily produced Christmas special. Act three.

So there you have it.  It's directed by Sofia Coppola, who did Lost In Translation with Murray, and written by Coppola, Murray and long-time Murray partner Mitch Glazer, though it's so loose it's hard to believe there was that much writing going on.

Most of the fun is in the numbers, of which there are quite a few, sung by Murray and numerous guest stars (some singers, some not).  First there's Paul Shaffer--Murray's old accompanist on Saturday Night Live--who plays piano on practically everything.  Then along the way there's Amy Poehler, Michael Cera, Chris Rock, Jenny Lewis, Phoenix, Jason Schwatzman, Rashida Jones, Maya Rudolph, David Johansen, Miley Cyrus and George Clooney.

At first the show seems ridiculous, but as you settle into it--and lower your standards--some of it is fun.  Stuff like "Alone On Christmas Day," "I Saw The Light" and "Fairytale Of New York," to name a few, aren't bad, in their shaggy way.

I think a lot of people are going to be--or already have been--disappointed by this show. But if you don't expect too much, there are worse ways to while away an hour.