The Bill Murray Stories: Life Lessons Learned from a Mythical Man

This was a surprisingly good documentary. I think that the main premise was to try to make philosophical sense out of Bill Murray, the man. It doesn't start out that way. The beginning makes you feel as if the shows premise is the phenomena of Bill Murry stories. There are some heartwarming footage of Murray at various venues having just popped up randomly. Interspersed are some movie clips; and, the theme switches there to philosophy.

If you love Bill Murray, you'll love this movie. If you don't, after watching this movie, you'll love Bill Murry... then, after you've watched the movie a second time, you'll love this movie.

This is how all documentaries should be done. No political agendas, just fact finding and story telling. Loved it.

Several years ago, a friend told me a story about when she & her husband were on a flight when she went to hand her empty glass to an airline steward. Being a stewardess herself, she quickly realized the guy who was taking up trash wasn't an airline employee - it was Bill Murray. He volunteered to help gather trash! Great story - which is repeated in different ways several times during this documentary. Such a great guy who likes to make people feel better. This is totally worth 1:10 it takes to watch this show. Highly recommend it!

The Bill Murray Stories is a documentary by a Murray fan that starts by recapping a bunch of the tales of how Murray intersects people's lives in ways that seem odd for a celebrity, and then explores how these stories tell us something about Murray and the life lessons we should take from him. On that level, it's very successful and well done. My only complaints are that the filmmaker inserts himself into the movie a little too much -- and especially in ways that make you think he hasn't internalized the things that he's saying make Murray so appealing. (And a couple of scenes with the filmmaker seem contrived -- as if they were a film school assignment.) My second complaint is that the movie doesn't explore/address some of the possible darkness in Murray. There is no attempt to deal with the drunken golf cart ride or allegations by his ex-wife. Don't get me wrong: I'm okay with a certain amount of mythologizing. And I do love this movie, but a more rounded picture of the man would've upped my 8 to a 9 or 10.

This documentary must have been as satisfying to make as it was to watch. It's genuinely evident that the film maker not only learned the most important lesson about Bill Murray, but an even more important lesson about why Bill Murray is what he is: A genuinely great, and thus rare kind of person. The same philosophy applies to this film within it's genre. Genuinely great, and like a perfect steak, it's quite rare.