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Similar to many others, I've always liked Bill Murray, and have been disappointed to hear the stories about some of his troubling professional behavior that has come to light in the last couple of decades, while working with others making films.
In the wake of all that bad press, this is the first Murray project I've seen, and one I SO desperately wanted to love, but didn't, for one reason, and one reason only.....Bill Murray himself.
Though I did think his role as 'narrator' for this piece was alright (though, at times, I felt his delivery was a bit uneven......seeming, at times, a bit lifeless and/or 'lazy' in delivery.....and at other times, just okay).
However, it was his SINGING, that REALLY dragged this whimsical production STRAIGHT DOWN. Unlike the performers playing the music, which was FIRST RATE, Murray's singing "skills", or lack thereof, were comical......though, NOT in a good way.
In fact, at times I wondered if it was possible he was doing his singing poorly, on purpose, just to be funny. But over time it became ABUNDANTLY clear, no, he's just REALLY (relatively speaking) a bad singer!
Seeing and hearing this IMMEDIATELY made me think back to his HILARIOUS sketches on SNL as "Nick the Lounge Singer", where his HILARIOUSLY bad singing really WAS funny......but here, not so much.
And though he, thankfully, did not sing a lot over the course of this show, when he did, it brought the entire production (for me, anyway) to a screeching halt.
So, though it may seem a bit unfair to give this film the rating I did based (mostly) on Murray's VERY limited singing ability, so be it.......because I'm left with the inescapable conclusion that this entire production would have been VERY good, if not GREAT, had they just hired a more competent narrator and singer.....
Additional Note: I was able to see this on TCM, the night Bill Murray 'co-hosted' with a few films of his own (October 21, 2024).......so to anyone interested in seeing this at some point in order to judge it for themselves, you might want to keep an eye on their upcoming schedule, since I couldn't find it airing or streaming anywhere else, at the time of this writing....
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