THE BILL MURRAY EXPERIENCE

THE BILL MURRAY EXPERIENCE

Bill Murray is widely known to drop in on total strangers, step into totally strange settings with strangers, and other off-beat everyday events -- totally unannounced... then disappear as if nothing happened. There have been many number of "Experiences" discribed by those affected.

There is even a website called Bill Murray Stories - No One Will Ever Believe You that is dedicated to some of these events. In fact Google is filled with stories including the time Murray showed up at an ice cream social and ate ice cream with everyone. And, the time he photo bombed a couples wedding pictures. And the time he popped in an started singing karaoke with a bunch of people at a private karaoke bar. Funny stuff.

Small time actress Sadie Katz found these events endearing and became obsessed with trying to have her own, what she called Bill Murray Experience. So obsessed she to time off from her already struggling career to pursue an experience. Naturally, that would mean she would need to be in the same area as Bill Murray and somehow entice him to ahng out with her.

Sound crazy? You bet! But Sadie went so far as to put together a small crew to hopefully film her Murray experience as it happens. Instead, she wound up film what turned out to be the story a one woman's crazy intactuation for a celebrity, pretty much stalking him around the country. From tracking down an agent who worked briefly with him (Murray doesn't use an agent), to tracking down his brother Joel, to lingering around Pebble Beach to chasing him down to his own golf charity event in Florida. Her pursuit is relentless.

Moreover, it cost her thousands of dollars, the friendship of her once supportive friends, a boyfriend - who thought it was nuts in the first place, and practically her sanity. In the end she becomes a pathetic of herself chasing a star.

What can be said is the documentary is very creative and amusing. She includes lots of other people's experiences in nifty cartoon storyboard. Yet while reviewing their experiences, it never occurs to her that none of them dressed as a unicorn and carried around 100 ballons to give to the comedian. She completely misses the point of the Bill Murray stories.

She gets great interviews with some of Murray's acquaintances, including Joel, actress P.J. Soles ("Stripes"), director David Price ("Ghostbusters") and others who seem amused she is going to such great lengths.

"The Bill Murray Experience" is, at the very least, an entertaining hard lesson about obsession and celebrity stalking. It offers a valid moral about celebrity fanaticism with a hard smack of reality. -- GEOFF BURTON

GEOFF BURTON

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