Life Lessons Learned From a Mythical Man: ****
I have great empathy for celebrities. They can’t have a break-up, a drug-addiction, or an ill-conceived Tweet without the whole world knowing about it.
However, all bets are off when celebrities start getting political and telling me what to do and think. Then my empathy quickly turns to disdain.
Just because you look handsome while robbing a casino does not mean you know more about geopolitics than me. You know less.
Fortunately, there is one celebrity who is bringing us together rather than tearing us apart. There is one celebrity is doesn’t think he is better than us but actually is. Of course it’s Bill Murray.
Apparently, the internet is full of Bill Murray stories: improbable tales about average people who suddenly found themselves spending quality time with America’s most beloved elderly actor.
Documentarian Tommy Avallone travelled the world to interview the folks who posted Bill Murray stories to see if they are true. Evidently, they are all true. Bill Murray is – as you have always suspected – the coolest celebrity.
Avallone interviews an employee at a little dive bar in Austin, TX. One afternoon, Bill Murray sat down next to him to drink a pint and chat. In a few hours, Mr. Murray was behind the bar serving drinks (poorly) to the starstruck crowd.
Later that weekend, Murray showed up to a house party with an all-girl indie band (no one knows how he picked them up). Murray chipped in for beer with the crumpled-up wad of cash in his pocket. “Let me pay; I’ve been saving up,” he insisted.
When the cops came because the party was too loud, the actor urged the police to join the party rather than break it up. Of course they did. No one says no to partying with Bill Murray.
Avallone travels to Scotland to see if the weirdest Bill Murray story is true. Apparently, the actor met a Norwegian exchange student in a bar and the student invited Murray back to his flat for a party. When he got there, Murray quietly chided the residents for keeping such a dirty kitchen. Then Bill Murray washed all the dishes in the sink before returning to the party to socialize.
The movie shows that Bill Murray isn’t a celebrity who interacts with the public as a stunt. He is a regular guy who completely rejects the celebrity lifestyle.
Bill Murray doesn’t have a famous wife or an entourage. He doesn’t live in Hollywood. His primary residence is Charleston, South Carolina. He doesn’t even have an agent; he has a landline with an 800 number.
If you like Bill Murray – and we all do, right? – “Bill Murray Stories” is the feel-good movie of the year.
With his actions, not his words, Murray is touching people’s lives and showing us a humble, wholesome way to live.
Oh, and as for you, George Clooney: I am disgusted by your arrogance. People do not like being talked down to or being told what to do by smug celebrities. If I were running for office, I’d try to manipulate you into campaigning for my opponent. I’m pretty sure that would swing some votes my way.