Stream It Or Skip It: ‘On the Rocks’ on Apple TV+, a Delightful Comedy Buoyed by the Ever-Lovin’ Bill Murray

Tell me you don’t want to see another Sofia Coppola-Bill Murray reunion, and I’ll call you a liar. On the Rocks, now on Apple TV+, pairs the elusive and beloved comic star with the director of his greatest performance, A Very Murray Christmas (Lost in Translation is OBVIOUSLY a very close second). The magic of those films aren’t likely to be replicated — nor will anyone in their right mind try — but even if On the Rocks kindles a few sparks of classic Murray charm, it’ll be worth watching.

ON THE ROCKS: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

The Gist: New York, New York, Newwww Yorrrrrrrrrrrrrrk: Laura (Rashida Jones) is a good mom, a struggling writer and an uncertain wife, and it all adds up to her not feeling like herself lately. Her husband Dean (Marlon Wayans) works and works and works, frequently traveling hither and yon to wine and dine clients, building his rapidly growing company. That leaves Laura to schlep their oldest daughter to school and coerce their youngest daughter to take naps so she can use her precious few quiet moments to meticulously arrange the items on her desk while her laptop sits open, its blank screen taunting the room.

Her disconnect with Dean is the primary source of her discontent. His closest co-worker is Fiona (Jessica Henwick), described by Laura’s father as “the one with all the legs.” We’ll get back to her dad in a moment — we have to, since he’s played by Bill Murray. Anyway she has good reason to be concerned about Fiona, who’s kind of touchy-touchy with Dean, and her body oil ended up in his luggage. But that’s because her carry-on bag was full and he forgot to give it back when they got home from a business trip, he tells Laura. Would you be incredulous? At least a little bit, I bet.

Does Laura have someone to confide in about this? Not really — one of the other moms she knows from school (Jenny Slate) chatters on and on and on about the droning minutiae of her own life, and Laura just nods and endures and submits to her inability to get an edgewise word. So she confides in her pops, Felix, a charming and moneyed slickster with a full-time chauffeur who deals in high-end art and women. He has a whole spiel about how men evolved to procreate and further the species, and we get to hear Bill Murray say the word “haunches,” which, of course, is a delight.

There’s some dysfunction there of course, but Felix is a force of chaotic good. He knows how a cad operates, because he was and possibly is one. He boosts Laura’s spirits by taking her to Old New York classy bars for martinis — they sit at the same table where Bogart proposed to Bacall. He also insists on turning her suspicions about Dean into a quasi-spy operation complete with binocular stakeouts, a car chase lifted from an old Hollywood caper and a private dick putting a “hot watch” on the guy. As you do.

What Movies Will It Remind You Of?: On the Rocks blends the understated heartsick aches of Lost in Translation with the NYC love letter that is Manhattan.

Performance Worth Watching: This is surely a top-10 Murray performance ever, maybe top five, depending on where you rank Garfield. Don’t overlook Jones though, who not only enjoys a delightful chemistry with her co-star, but also quietly conveys Laura’s simmering stew of frustration and melancholy.

Memorable Dialogue: Felix: “Women — you can’t live with ’em, you can’t live without ’em. That doesn’t mean you have to live with ’em.”

Sex and Skin: None.

Our Take: It’s a simple moment that brings On the Rocks home: A close-up on Jones, her brow furrowed with sad worry, and Murray’s voice, buttered with calm, sympathetic assurance, says, “You’re gonna be all right, shorty.” It’s perfectly modulated by the actors, perfectly nurtured by Coppola, perfectly touching. It’s just perfect.

It’s also a perfect example of the tone Coppola targets — mostly light with hints of heft, neatly sidestepping the gloomy despair lurking in the periphery. The film is an alchemical spritzer this side of madcap and that side of melodramatic. It’s funny, clever, a little bit silly, and exquisitely scripted with hints of truth about the complexities of marriage. Wayans’ performance is flat and awkward, and the ending is pat, the conflict too easily resolved. But these are beside-the-point nitpicks, because we come for Murray, are buoyed by the promise of another Coppola enchantment and stay for Jones, who flouts the screenplay’s persistent fluffiness and makes us truly care about what happens.

Murray is extraordinary, of course, bemused, flippant, sly, absolutely bullseyeing the sweet spot between wise and wiseass. His Felix has the softened tones of a father who knows he can’t really help his daughter’s situation improve, but is absolutely capable of getting her to vacate her own head for a while. Which may be the reason the movie exists: escapism with a hint of substance.

Our Call: STREAM IT. Some will ding On the Rocks for being flimsy, but they’re just killjoys. It’s a sweet and flaky cinematic aperitif, amusing yet smart, and a frequently delightful treat.

John Serba is a freelance writer and film critic based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Read more of his work at johnserbaatlarge.com or follow him on Twitter: @johnserba.

Stream On the Rocks on Apple TV+