Murder Mystery Review

The multiple picture deal between Adam Sandler’s Happy Madison Productions and Netflix has yet to produce something worthwhile. Sandler’s nearly unwatchable debut release on the streaming service, 2015’s The Ridiculous 6, has only become well known for how horrendous it is. Annual follow-ups like 2016’s The Do Over, 2017’s Sandy Wexler and 2018’s The Week Of were not as blatantly terrible but still forgettable efforts that were bloated with unengaging stories and lazy performances. Happy Madison’s newest film Murder Mystery continues the uninspired and indolent releases by Sandler. The complete absence of passion attached to this project is so palpable that it’s clear that many of the cast was only in it for the paycheck and beautiful Italian locales. Murder Mystery includes much of what is now expected from a movie produced by Sandler; formulaic narratives, uncreative jokes and unenthusiastic acting pad much of the runtime. Perhaps the films biggest surprise is the reduction of flagrant product placement that has grown common in Happy Madison films of this decade. This improvement is the most Sandler deserves, as his desire to create quality content has become noticeably vacant.

Murder Mystery follows New York police officer Nick Spitz and is wife Audrey. To save their marriage, Nick hastily books a romantic trip to Europe, a dream of Audrey’s that Nick had promised to fulfill since their wedding. On the plane, Aubrey meets the suave billionaire Charles Cavendish, who invites the couple to his uncle’s celebration aboard his yacht. Tempers and egos flare during the celebration and it’s not long before Charles’ uncle is mysteriously murdered by one of his guests. With the blame placed on Nick and Aubrey, the two must figure out the truth in order to prove their innocence.

The mystery and comedy elements are unoriginal while many of the characters are compartmentalized into tropes that feel painfully dated. The film leans so heavily on these exhausted arcs that it creates a narrative that’s far too linear. Kyle Newachuk’s directing and Amir Mokri’s cinematography gives the movie a polish that each scene so desperately needs in order to stay somewhat visually engaging, but none of it can hide the sheer laziness in every other aspect of the film.

Some speak quite mournfully about Adam Sandler, it’s movies like this that force people to do so. Murder Mystery shows that the only thing that needs solving is who killed Adam Sandler’s desire to be funny.

Generic and completely devoid of clever humour, Murder Mystery results in another miss by Happy Madison Productions and Netflix.

Produced By: Netflix/Happy Madison
Runtime: 97 minutes
Rating: PG-13