A Very Murray Christmas – Film Review

Bill Murray worries no one will show up to his Christmas-themed television special taping due to a terrible snowstorm in New York City.

This holiday season, you could cozy up by the fire to watch a traditional Christmas flick such as It’s a Wonderful Life, National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, or A Christmas Story, or you could also cozy up and watch Sofia Coppola’s 2015 Netflix special A Very Murray Christmas, which was on my watch list for a very long time. I think it’s safe to say that I’m glad I finally decided to check it out.

This fifty-six-minute comedy-musical-Christmas hybrid is one of the breeziest watches you can find out there. It’s relentlessly entertaining thanks to its witty script, incredibly fun cameo appearances, and simple storyline. Who would have thought that Bill Murray singing Christmas songs and goofing around with various celebrities would end up being one of the most pleasant watches on Netflix? I certainly didn’t.

There are plenty of joyous cameo appearances throughout this comedy special that put a massive smile on my face. Amy Poehler is involved in this project for a few scenes and her appearance here was such a great thing to see considering how much I miss Parks and Recreation. And speaking of that show, Rashida Jones also appears in this film and her character is one that has a surprising amount of heart that ties into the overall story beautifully.

Courtesy of Netflix

But perhaps the greatest and funniest cameo in A Very Murray Christmas is that of Chris Rock, who shares an absolutely hilarious and delightful scene with Bill Murray as they sing Christmas songs together for a couple of minutes. Although the scene may have been short in the long run, it was a couple of minutes where I felt nothing but pure joy and happiness.

As a whole, the film sort of feels like it packs any sort of a punch. Really, it feels like maybe that was the intention. A Very Murray Christmas wasn’t created with awards or anything in mind – it was created for people to get a kick out of watching Bill Murray and various other celebrities have fun in time for the holidays and sing a song or two along the way. It doesn’t offer anything game-changing by any means, but if you’re looking for a fun and wonderfully entertaining way to spend approximately an hour, you really can’t go wrong here.

Overall Grade: B

MPAA Rating: TV-MA

Cast: Bill Murray, Michael Cera, George Clooney, Miley Cyrus, Dimitri Dimitrov, David Johansen, Jenny Lewis, Rashida Jones, Amy Poehler, Chris Rock, Maya Rudolph, Jason Schwartzman

Directed by: Sofia Coppola

Distributed by: Netflix

Release Date: December 4, 2015

Running Time: 56 minutes