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Murray’s Christmas is Kinda Merry

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A Very Murray Christmas

Bill Murray has done what few have been able to do in the last several years. He has put together a likable Christmas special that is not a parody and is not a variety show. Murray, along with his director Sophia Coppola and co-writer Mitch Glazer, write the bad-weather plotted story of Murray’s Christmas special that doesn’t happen.

Murray begins the special lamenting that his live special from New York isn’t going to happen because none of his high profile guests can make it into the city.  “The airports are closed,” he laments. “The trains are closed. The buses and bridges and tunnels are not working. A couple of saloons have closed. The entire city of New York has shut down.” After convincing Chris Rock to sing with him, the power goes out, putting an end to it all.

Murray, along with Paul Shaffer, spends the rest of Christmas Eve in the hotel’s bar. This is where the bulk of the special actually takes place. Because the show was produced for and aired on Netflix, bar language is permitted but not in a way that is vulgar, if that makes sense. And of course, there’s drinking.

And lots of singing.

Murray is like a Dean Martin, emceeing a group of his friends asking them to sing. Some of it is ridiculous, like Murray and Rock singing, “Do You Hear What I Hear?” Or humorous like Murray and George Clooney singing “Santa Claus Wants Some Lovin’.” But much of it is really good. Miley Cyrus sings “Silent Night,” reminding us that she really can sing. Maya Rudolph and Jenny Lewis balance out the ridiculous and humorous with their selections, not to mention Pogues’ “Fairytale of New York.”

There is an air of gloominess throughout the special. Murray opens the show with singing “Christmas Blues” due to the snow storm. There is a bride and groom unable to get married. Rudolph is drinking alone. It’s Christmas Eve and no one seems to be happy. But Murray is not Grumpy Bear. He tries to replace the grumpy with the merry. I’m not convinced that he gets there, but it is only an hour-long special. The important thing is that he tries.

A Very Murray Christmas

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very murray christmasSometimes Christmas just doesn’t work out. In A Very Murray Christmas (directed by Sofia Coppola and currently streaming on Netflix) Bill Murray’s live Christmas Eve TV special is completely undone by a massive storm and power outage. When he and Paul Shaffer head to a hotel bar to drown their holiday sorrows, they encounter others who are experiencing a very blue Christmas. Along the way there are appearances from (among others) Amy Poehler, Chris Rock, George Clooney, Miley Cyrus, Maya Rudolph, and Jason Schwartzman, some of whom have roles, others who play themselves. It is built around the kind of low-key humor that Bill Murray is famous for.

Like most TV Christmas specials, this is a paean to the secular version of Christmas. The one religious touch is Miley Cyrus’s rendition of “Silent Night”. The focus on the cultural celebration of Christmas centers on these people who are nearly alone as Christmas approaches: Murray and Schaffer who have basically been left without the show that was to be their holiday, a bride and groom who had to cancel their wedding because of the storm, the staff at the hotel bar who are stuck where they are, and other lonely people who have come here. Most of the songs that fill the show are about the idea of missing someone at Christmas.

While we usually think of Christmas as a joyous season, this is also a time when many people are indeed alone and depressed. That sorrow is only made worse when they are bombarded with the message that everyone is happy. We should note that much of that happiness is just as manufactured and counterfeit as the Christmas spirit of shopping malls (or of TV Christmas specials). The stresses of the holidays can wear on even those who find great meaning in either the secular or religious versions of this season. For those in this story, relief is found in discovering that there are others who share their plight—that they are not alone in their blues. Just knowing that we are not as alone as we may feel can bring a bit of relief.