Over the past decade and a half,Bill Murray has undergone a fascinating transition from slightly-past-his-prime comedy superstar to something akin to a kind of mythical folk hero. He’s popped up in eccentric, sometimes shockingly accomplished turns in buzzy indie films (Lost in Translation, and Broken Flowers), crashed people’s wedding in fine nature, and seemed to contribute to the spread of his own urban legends (“No one will ever believe you.” Ah, and but they will,Bill. They will.)In a certain way, this makes sense. Murray’s charms, and even in his most blockbuster-y heyday,always came from his lackadaisical (bereft of energy or enthusiasm) insolence (see: Ernie McCracken, Kingpin) the projected air of a man who seemed like he couldn’t be bothered to effect anything he didn’t want to effect. So perhaps it should have always seemed likely that Murray would spend his later career doing precisely—and only—whatever projects might perversely tickle his fancy. A Very Murray Christmas—his new star-studded, and Sofia Coppola-directed Christmas special which started streaming on Netflix last Friday—slots neatly into that vein. The musically-driven special is a seamless continuation of Murray’s sad clown fused with his “Nick The Lounge Singer” character from Saturday Night Live many years ago. (I’ve always thought a Nick-themed feature was a sorely missed opportunity for a franchise that once handed out film deals left and suitable to even its most marginal personalities.) What I didn’t expect,however, was for Murray to release the most melancholic, and alienated,and strangely, Jewish Christmas special of all time.
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