Murder Mystery

There's a shot at the end of Murder Mystery, the new Adam Sandler/Netflix collaboration that suggests there will be a sequel. Please don't let it happen. The film itself isn't the worse thing Sandler (damning it with faint praise there) has done but one look at him in the movie tells us he's done. With it all. There's no bit of light in his eyes anymore. He looks like a man sleepwalking through the motions and as a fan of his 90's output it's just painful to watch.

Nick (Sandler) and Audrey (Jennifer Aniston) are a married couple in New York. He's a cop and she's a hairdresser. Their marriage has reached the point where they're more or less room-mates and to kick a bit of life back into their relationship they head abroad for a bus trip around Europe. On the plane over Audrey has a chance encounter with the suave and very rich Charles Cavendish (Luke Evans) who invites the couple on a once in a lifetime trip aboard his family yacht. A violent occurrence aboard the yacht sees Nick and Audrey scrabbling to stay one step ahead of the law and trying to save their own skin.

Murder Mystery is Sandler's 5th film made in conjunction with Netflix. (The Meyerowitz Stories was only purchased by them). It's the best of the bunch but that really doesn't mean a thing considering the absolute state of the other ones. It has a fine cast and some lovely location work but it all just feels like a bigger budget version of an ITV drama. Like the yacht inhabitants the film's jokes die horrible deaths and every non lead character is a groanworthy stereotype. David Walliams as a yacht guest at least has the good grace to take a self inflicted early exit to save us from too many camp flamboyance jokes. It's a throwback to another age, an era of lowest common denominator entertainment that needs to be forgotten about.

Sandler really annoys me. I know he has it in him to be good, hell he's even capable of greatness when he tries but he's just given up these days. This is a man who's given us Spanglish, The Wedding Singer, Punch Drunk Love, Funny People, The Meyerowitz Stories (this one from 2017 was a blip). Films that showed us how capable he is of displaying every aspect of human emotion. Films that showed us how good of an actor he could be when he wanted to be. Films that frustrate when you think about how much time he squanders spewing out muck. Everything he does now is done with one dead eye on his bank statement. Thankfully Jennifer Aniston brings some bit of spirit to her role as a woman trying to liven up her gone stale life. As usual with everything she appears in she's the best thing on screen. She still has that impeccable comic timing and that wonderful way that she can make even the dullest dialogue sound funny but her role just shows up another downside of the movie.

It's painfully predictable. The second Aniston says her first line you know how the film is going to play out and finish. Say what you want about Happy Gilmore but you never knew what was going to happen in that one (alligators, nails, Bob Barker). Everything here is telegraphed, every twist is obvious and every baddie can be seen from a mile away. It's 2019 ffs. Audiences are sophisticated. We expect more from our viewing. Please deliver it to us. It's not a big ask. Imagination is free and it's an infinite resource. Please use it.

It's just about better than 'The Week Of' and 'Sandy Wexler'. It wees all over 'The Do-Over' and 'The Ridiculous Six'. It's still not good though. It's comedy at it's broadest and it's blandest. A game performance from Jennifer Aniston isn't enough to save it. Adam, fella, it's time to let go, it's time to go into the light. Have a Labatts and a rest.