New Worlds: The Cradle of Civilization

It's a concert film of Bill Murray and three musicians: Vanessa Perez, Jan Vogler, and Mira Wang recorded at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus in Athens. It was a worldwide concert tour that did very well. The musicians play Gershwin, Saint-Saens and Bernstein very well. Murray recites Whitman, Thurber, and sings very badly.

Clearly the draw is Murray. The choice of what he performs is clearly his, and reflects the sort of writing thrust upon him in school, the sort of music that best exemplifies America. The musicians dress formally. Murray dresses like he's been woken from a nap, told people are coming on, put on some pants.

The audience seems very appreciative. Were they Greeks? What did they really make of "If Grant Had Been Drinking At Appomattox"?

An eclectic mix of word and song that accentuates the Great American Songbook, but diverges widely with side trips to Scotland and France, for example. The program is whimsical, like Bill Murray: moving, then comedic, sonorous and silly, like a personal postcard from Greece, where Murray and his conspirators speak to all who will listen.

Call it a documentary or a concert. It is both. And those who might appreciate an evening of art that is both comfortable and elevating, should check it out.

Murray's associates are Jan Vogler, Mira Wang, and Vanessa Perez. Together they make beautiful and memorable music.

The music is beautiful and diverse-- classical, songs from musicals and popular American music. The musicians are skilled with good direction. Bill Murry's performance completes the arc of a singing career that I first witnessed on Saturday Night Live where Murray was going for laughs. 45 years later Bill is still as entertaining but not going for laughs and despite his singing voice which is Dylanesque the lyrics seem to become more obvious. His reading of the text is terrific. Bill is a troublemaker both on and off screen which is much of his appeal. If you're a fan of music and Bill Murray you will like this.

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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 since then, 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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