WatchSeeViewLook Month At The LFF - The Bill Murray Stories (2018)

We’re moving into festival territory now. Every October, the BFI runs the London Film Festival (LFF) which tends to attract a few big name hitters alongside a number of smaller independent films from around the world, not just the UK. This year, the opening and closing night films are Widows, directed by Steve McQueen (12 Years A Slave) and Stan And Ollie starring Steve Coogan and John C Reilly as the iconic comedy duo. As those films are generally steeper in price and usually decided by ballot, I’ve gone for a mixture of other films at the festival, ranging from films by established directors (Terry Gilliam and The Coen Brothers are in there) to films that just sounded kind of interesting.

Where do we start? Well, let’s go with one that just sounded kind of interesting for starters.

The Bill Murray Stories: Life Lessons Learned From A Mythical Man
Dir. Tommy Avallone / Dur. 82 mins

In A Nutshell:- Documentary following the ways in Bill Murray likes to just insert himself into the lives of random strangers.

The Good:- I have, for as long as I can remember, been a fan of Bill Murray’s work. Ghostbusters and Groundhog Day have been pretty ingrained in there from an early age. I’d seen a couple of pictures of Murray effectively photo-bombing people but didn't realise the extent to which he’d popped into people’s lives. From washing up at a student party party in Scotland to tending bar in Austin, it seems Murray just likes to drop into people’s lives because he can with the express intention of causing enjoyment. The key line in the film is a recording of an interview in which he talks about the need to wake himself up every few days, to be present in life and, if he sees someone else in need of that, he’s happy to help out.

The Bad:- The opening recreation with actors is a little cheesy and even slightly off-putting but stick with it through that. It also maybe mythologises what Murray’s doing a little too much but that should be fairly obvious from the subtitle.

The Verdict:- An ultimately heart-warming and life-affirming film which wraps up nicely in a thematic way. Definitely worth a watch.

Tomorrow:- A New Zealand comedy about two women who offer a service splitting up couples...