Netflix has had its biggest year for Netflix Originals in 2015 and as the year comes to a close Netflix has got a few last tricks up its sleeve. One of the more experimental titles it’s put onto the service is A Very Murray Christmas which arrived on Netflix on December 4th.
The hour long special is a relatively new format for any network but seems to be a great home for Netflix that’s usually a catalyst for new experimental entertainment. Will this be Netflix’s first great Christmas title that you’ll watch every year?
The premise of the movie is that Bill Murray is hosting a show in New York City but disaster has struck, the city is shut down because of poor weather. But as the saying goes – the show must go on. Bill recruits the help of his fellow celebrities to pull together the special. The usual flow goes from Bill meeting someone, having a quick singsong and quickly moving along to the next celebrity.
It’s important to note what an impressive cast they’ve managed to assemble here. Bill Murray is joined alongside Amy Poehler, George Clooney, Miley Cyrus, Chris Rock, Jason Schwartzman, Maya Rudolph, Rashida Jones and Michael Cera.
Bill Murray gives the runaway performance here with everyone else really supporting and filtering in and out of the show. With that said, the whole thing is supposed to come off as a light show that is what you see is what you get. That for most will make you want to switch off half way through as it seemingly goes nowhere and just seems to exist for the sake of existing. I often compared it to an SNL sketch which will probably instantly appeal to you or not.
It’s a musical movie so it makes sense to make use of the catalogue of Christmas songs out there and it does with different celebrities joining in with each one. It gets repetitive and when it comes to Bill Murray being knocked out and going into a dream world any sense of narrative is completely lost.
So in summary, this Christmas special is a good one off watch but honestly will leave you thinking about you could’ve been watching something better. It’s exterior with the big and well-known cast is appealing but scratch the surface and you’ll find a mellow musical that Disney has and will continue doing a better job of delivering. This will probably end up leaving you wanting Christmas to be over. Michael Cera said it best when he said this was a Chrismess.
