A Very Murray Christmas

Bill Murray is an enigma. Is he a crooning party guy?  A hard drinking, temperamental Irish brawler? A melancholy loner? No one knows for sure, and it’s probably better that way. His persona is based on that mystery, and he owes much of his legacy to it. A Very Murray Christmas attempts to show us the “real” Bill Murray - but after an hour, we are left with no more answers than we had before.

A Very Murray Christmas finds the legendary actor holed up in a swanky New York City hotel where he is scheduled to do a live Christmas special. Unfortunately, a snow storm has closed the city down and things have to be scaled back dramatically. Much of the show is a loving throwback to variety shows of the past, with guests “stopping by” to perform a song with Murray, with the hotel’s waitstaff often acting as backup singers/band. Of particular note are Maya Rudolph as a sultry, world-weary divorcee who belts out “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” and Jenny Lewis as a waitress performing a surprisingly un-creepy rendition of “Baby it’s Cold Outside”. My favorite performance, though, is Murray, Lewis, and David “Buster Poindexter” Johansen’s interpretation the Pogues’ epic “Fairytale of New York”.

At one point Murray passes out and enters a dream sequence in which he lives out the Christmas special that was meant to be, alongside superstars George Clooney and Miley Cyrus. Proving that there is indeed a whole lot of talent behind all that twerking, Miley performs an awe-inspiring rendition of “Silent Night”. Clooney shows off his considerable charm as he engages in cheesy stage banter with Murray and sings backup on “Santa Claus Needs Some Lovin”.

I love everything about A Very Murray Christmas, from its variety show feel to its eclectic cast to its impressive and often moving musical numbers. I have no idea what inspired Sophia Coppola to do a Bill Murray-themed Christmas special, but I sure am glad she did. No matter what kind of guy Murray really is, he has truly given the world a beautiful Christmas gift.