Santa's dead. Yep, gone, lying on the floor of the City Hall impaled by a giant candy cane!
But who would murder Santa, let alone in a room full of people, and then get away with it?! Or will we manage to find the killer before the presents are due to be delivered to the orphanage?
Considering from my neck of the woods in New Zealand I had never heard of Murderville, I went into this blind, not knowing what to expect.
It kicks off with a short introduction of Jason Bateman and Maya Rudolph informing us they are here with no script, and zero idea of what to expect, other than what costumes they are given to wear on set. Kind of reminds me of the Australian show 'Thank God you're here' with a bit of Agatha Christie thrown in the mix. Already, I was somewhat familiar in knowing at least that this would be a fun ride!
Our glue holding this awesome pair together and guiding them through their unscripted escapades is none other than Will Arnett, whom I absolutely love in Arrested Development. Turns out he is in all the prior Murderville series which this is based on, so I must get to watching all of those!
We quickly learn that this show is probably for the most of it, filmed quite quickly with few takes, which works brilliantly at catching the realism of what this show is about...having fun telling a story. I get that feeling as the actors tend to break character, a lot. This is what helps make this an absolute Christmas miracle of a film, it is simply hilarious. You can see how much fun they are all having at constantly trying to push the envelope and make each other lose it. The chemistry and then the comedy that evolves between these 3 is fantastic, especially Jason Bateman, will he ever forgive himself for licking the milk from the cats bowl?!
But without Arnett, who plays Terry Seattle, the show couldn't be what it is. No wonder he helms the series, when he and Bateman were interrogating Channel 5 broadcaster Jim Trently, and he broke character laughing, I laughed the hardest I have all year. This scene alone is simply fantastic, as we can see clearly that Bateman was in no way prepared for what was unfolding in front of his eyes, literally.
Then our next suspect the assistant to Johnny Blaze (Santa) Mia Briggs is interrogated, which is when Maya is introduced. I thought the first suspect did it but suddenly all is not as it seems as there is something off about Mia and her relationship with Johnny. And get ready for the funniest interrogation of good cop, bad cop where I think Maya takes the cake with her French cop impersonation.
Meanwhile, Terry ends up in the air vents trying to locate the killer, Bruce Willis Die Hard style, and directs the next scene through walkie talkies linked to Bateman's and Rudolph's ear pieces, guiding them with what to say to the third and final suspect, Donna Foccacia - Restaurateur, whom brings us another clue as to who the killer may, or may not be.
Time to line up our suspects, but not before a final guest appearance with which they too will help decide who the killer is, even though they have no idea about what has or even is happening. This guest adds a lot to this show with their quirky uncontrollable laughter. A great way to round out an awesome 50 odd minutes of Christmas cheer.
Did the kids get their presents, and did Santa's murderer come forward? Unwrap this show and find out, it is without a doubt the best fun in under an hour!
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