The Highs, Lows and WTFS of Bill Murray’s Christmas Special

With the quiet, majestic sneakiness of old St. Nick himself, Bill Murray co-wrote and starred in a Christmas special that became available on Netflix this month. Directed by Sofia Coppola, the hour-long, star-packed special follows a fictional version of Murray as he tries to scrap together a holiday variety special (meta) while snowed in at the Carlyle Hotel on Christmas Eve.

The reviews have not been favorable — “full of inside jokes but in the end kind of empty,” said The New York Times — and the special’s existence doesn’t prove so much that we needed a revival of the classic Christmas variety TV special popularized by Bing Crosby and Bob Hope, but more that when you’re Bill Murray, you can pretty much do whatever you want.

Bill Murray Sings. A Lot.

Bill Murray seems like a man of many specific hobbies — the kind of guy who probably charms snakes and makes his own pickles — so the fact that he also can (mostly) carry a tune should not have surprised me, but it did. While his voice is not grating to listen to and at times, slightly mesmerizing( if your cough syrup is kicking in), it is definitely supported more by his facial expressions than any vocal skill and therefore probably would have been better suited to one song rather than 11. That’s right, 11. Because…

This is Basically A Full-On Musical.

Call me stupid for not realizing that the words “Holiday Variety Show” ensured music galore, but I did not realize that the entire hour would be filled with back-to-back renditions of Christmas hits. I thought that there’d maybe be 3 or 4 musical numbers, but definitely not 14, and it took me four full-on songs and the appearance of Jenny Lewis to realize that Netflix was all-in.

Highs of this interesting creative choice include Chris Rock and Bill Murray singing “Do You Hear What I Hear?” in matching green turtlenecks…

And the instantly-viral “Silent Night” by Miley Cyrus.

Lows include Bill Murray/Jenny Lewis’s performance of “Baby, It’s Cold Outside,” where Murray feels a lot like a creepy drunk dude at the bar hitting on the waitress oh wait.

The Nonsensical Plot

In a one-sentence summary, Murray gets out of his Christmas Eve Holiday Special that no one showed up to thanks to a power outage at the hotel where they’re filming, leading him to spend the evening in the hotel restaurant helping the staff eat all perishable items, saving a bride and groom’s relationship after their failed wedding (played by Jason Schwartzman and Rashida Jones because of course), and eventually passing out and being transported to a soundstage decorated as Winter Wonderland with George Clooney and Miley Cyrus.

In short, it’s basically a stoner comedy masquerading behind a Christmas Message.

Michael Cera Pretending To Be A Manager

Because no list of cameos is complete without him, Michael Cera sails into A Very Murray Christmas about five minutes in, pretending to be a manager looking to sign Murray. It’s an aggressive role — Cera keeps calling Murray “the Murricane” and lamenting his past failed films — one that Little George Michael can’t quite grab a hold of, lobbing joke after joke that doesn’t land, like your sad cousin who thinks he’s really good at impressions but actually just always sounds Irish.

Maya Rudolph’s Closet Singing Career

Maya Rudolph, though I’m still not quite sure what function her character served, stole the show with her rendition of “Christmas (Baby Come Home),” rivaling the little girl in Love Actually for best unexpected musical performance. She has an amazing voice, and the fact that it has not been capitalized on earlier in her career with like, a musical number in Bridesmaids or something, is a travesty of justice. I await her Christmas Album patiently.

In the meantime, there is this:

Over all, A Very Murray Christmas is pleasant background noise at its worst and at its best, a happy, musical romp with your BFFs (best famous friends) at your side. It may not be the most inventive, narratively strong Christmas entertainment available, but its cheerful incoherency reminds us that while The Holidays may not be exactly what you expected or go as well as you planned, it’s still nice to kick back and enjoy some classic, festive tunes with the ones you love.

Or at least with Bill Murray.

All Photographs Screen Grabs via Netflix, collage by Krista Anna Lewis

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