Murder Mystery

Murder Mystery

Starring Adam Sandler, Jennifer Aniston, Luke Evans, Terence Stamp

Directed by Kyle Newacheck

The Story:
NYPD cop Nick Spitz (Adam Sandler) has finally given his wife Audrey (Jennifer Aniston) what's she wanted since they've been married the last fifteen years - a long awaited honeymoon in Europe.  While on the plane, Audrey meets the suave Charles Cavendish (Luke Evans), who invites the couple to join him on his uncle's yacht once they land.

Nick and Audrey stand out like sore thumbs on the yacht filled with the rich and elite, and it all goes downhill when Charles' uncle Malcolm (Terence Stamp) is murdered, and everyone on board is a suspect.  In Monaco, Inspector de la Croix (Dany Boon) suspects Nick and Audrey, and sets out to prove that they're guilty.  As the body count rises, Nick and Audrey must work to not just clear their names, but prevent themselves from becoming next on the hit list.

The Synopsis:
Adam Sandler once had a very promising comedic career, especially from his time on "Saturday Night Live" to now-classic films like "The Waterboy," "Billy Madison," "Big Daddy," and "The Wedding Singer."  Then he was struck with a string of disastrous flops like "You Don't Mess With the Zohan," "Funny People," "Grown Ups," "Grown Ups 2," "Jack and Jill," "That's My Boy," and "Pixels," and his career seemed to take a downward spiral.  Then he made a deal with Netflix to produce and star in movies for the company, and again the results weren't overly positive, especially the stinkers like "The Ridiculous 6,"  "The Do-Over," and "The Week Of."  Then he produced and starred in "Murder Mystery," and somehow the old spark managed to light up again, and it set a record for Netflix, having over thirty million accounts viewing the movie in the first three days of release, and to my understanding, I have absolutely no idea why this happened.  While the film is better than most of the ones mentioned, it's nowhere near the caliber of films at the height of his career, and serves more as a movie to watch on a boring Saturday afternoon when you won't remember the details of it by Saturday night.

A few years ago I participated in a murder mystery dinners, and I had the time of my life - and not just because I was one of the killers.  I went with three good friends and we all totally engrossed ourselves in our roles (even if other participants didn't), and it really ignited my desire to do more murder mystery dinners.  So this movie allured me more than Sandler's other outings due to the fact that it's reminiscent of such an event, and it did have its funny and fun moments, but if it wasn't starring Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston, it'd be one you'd find on the Hallmark Channel.  The premise is as simple as when Agatha Christie invented this type of genre in her classic writings - a group of people who all have motive to kill one particular man finds themselves suspects in said man's death, and one-by-one they themselves succumb to the unknown killer.  What sets this apart is that Sandler and Aniston bring their decades-old friendship to the screen and deliver surprisingly humorous performances because they work so well off each other.

While the film doesn't tread any new paths in the genre, it still provides a few laughs and a thought-provoking storyline that'll keep you guessing along with our witless heroes as they try to decipher the clues and hidden meanings behind the people involved.  Sandler's Nick plays himself as a detective, but actually failed the test three times and just goes by the title to make his wife think he's important, and Aniston's Audrey is a hairdresser who enjoys reading mystery novels, so an event like this is right up her alley.  Together they create great chemistry, but it feels more like lifelong friends than a longtime married couple, but maybe after fifteen years of marriage that's how they all end up, I have no idea.  Anyway, the supporting characters as well offer the traditional tropes that saturate this genre - the greedy unlovable victim, the jilted children, the hot young mistress, the actress, the corporal, the bodyguard, the race car driver, the maharajah, and so on - but provide laughs on their own and maintains an odd sense of believably throughout.

Much like a cheap horror movie, you sit through the film basically to see who the killer is, but it's also more fun to try and figure out who the next victim will be, which was why I was able to stay attentive to the story - otherwise I would've turned it off the first twenty minutes.  It doesn't offer anything new, but it's still good for a few cheap laughs and a decent way to waste a rainy Saturday.

The Summary:
While far from his classic comedy, Adam Sandler's "Murder Mystery" offers more than a few laughs as it tackles the whodunit genre with comedic timing and suspense, along with the friendly chemistry of Sandler and Jennifer Aniston.

The Score: B-