Bill Murray is an actor who, thanks to various iconic roles (eg. Ghostbusters, Groundhog Day or Lost in Translation) has succeeded in conquering a place in the hearts of many film fans. But even outside his filmography he has managed to create kind of a legend around him. How? By simply appearing suddenly at everyday moments and being himself. Thanks to the internet this is shared with the world and you can read how he suddenly appeared on the wedding photos of a wedding couple, did the dishes at a party or sang Happy Birthday for a grandmother. But why do we like to read about it? That is the question that director Tommy Avallone tries to answer.
It seems to be very difficult to make contact with Bill Murray. He has a special number that you can call, but that does not guarantee that he will call you back. Sofia Coppola herself spent a lot of time calling him just trying to talk to him about his role in Lost in Translation. Tommy Avallone also hopes to speak to him to ask why he suddenly appears in normal situations in daily life, but after recording several voicemail messages he wants to find out if all those stories are correct. That actually results in a repetitive documentary which goes like this: He tells what happened, the person who experienced it also does this and lets you know what impact this had on his/her life. It does not go much further than that. Avallone then philosophizes why Murray always does this and his idea of this is beautiful, but no more than that. The Bill Murray Stories: Life Lessons Learned from a Mythical Man is fun to watch because of the moments when Murray does things that you might not see normally, but you can do that through YouTube as well. So it is a documentary that collects these kinds of moments and gives a little bit of background, but when the end credits role you don’t get the feeling you now have a lot more insight.
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