"Murder Mystery" Uncovers the Reality of Netflix Originals

Adam Sandler has done it again. For the last few years, Sandler has been making Netflix original movies through his Happy Madison production company. And "Murder Mystery" takes a classic format and delivers comedy gold.

Once again teaming up with the perpetually beautiful Jennifer Aniston, they play a married couple, Nick and Audrey Spitz, deep into the doldrums of everyday life. Their relationship is predictable and very little effort is made by either of them to provide a spark. It's even reached the point where Sandler, who failed his detective exam, has been lying by leading her to believe he IS a detective.

They're THAT out of touch with each other.

When she calls him out on a promise he made years ago to take her to Europe, he covers himself by saying she ruined his surprise (spoiler: he wasn't actually planning a trip) and now he has to throw it together last minute. While on the plane Aniston wanders into first class and meets a wealthy bachelor (Luke Evans) whose lavish lifestyle intrigues her; while her husband snores away in economy class. Luke Evans plays the role of Charles Cavendish perfectly and his portrayal of a dashing, wealthy, and mysterious bachelor who plans on crashing his Uncle Malcolm Quince's (Terrence Stamp) party is downright perfection.

He's crashing the party anyway so the more the merrier!

When they arrive on Quince's yacht, there is a diverse cast of characters who are all connected to him in some way. Sandler and Aniston work perfectly together like a couple who are clearly out of their element as he becomes obnoxious and star-struck while she tries her best to reign him in so as not to be embarrassed. Quince gathers everyone into a room to denounce them all and announce his entire fortune will be left to his VERY young trophy wife (whom he stole away from Cavendish).

Before he signs the will, making it official, the lights go out. When the lights come back on, Malcolm Quince is dead on the floor and everyone in the room is a suspect!

Aniston and Sandler are terrific together as they navigate the movie in their attempt to find the real killer while avoiding the police who assume they're the murderers. Taking a classic dinner theater trope formed on the back of the legendary Agatha Christie novel "Murder on the Orient Express", Sandler delivers the biggest opening weekend for a Netflix original movie.

With over 30 million accounts having viewed it over the weekend, "Murder Mystery" proves that Netflix is a viable player and potential threat to the cinema. There's no way to quantify how many eyes were on the TV in each of those 30 million households but it's clear that this movie had the 3rd biggest opening (if you factor in an imaginary $9 ticket price for each account) of the year.

Netflix is out to change the landscape of first-run movies, proving that their platform is a viable outlet for production companies. The only way to do that is to improve the quality of content they produce that can't be seen anywhere else. Adam Sandler has been pumping out movies that are Netflix originals with other offerings such as "The Do-Over" with David Spade and "Blended" with Drew Barrymore.

While there will never be a proper replacement for seeing a blockbuster like Avengers: Endgame or Godzilla: King of Monsters in the movie theater, Netflix has uncovered the reality of original first-run movies. You don't need a big screen and high ticket prices to enjoy them. As we continue to navigate the choppy waters of endless streaming services, Netflix is providing an undercurrent of movies that pulls viewers in.

So what did we think of "Murder Mystery"? Let's take a look at the Blast-o-Meter:

BLAST-O-METER

It's not a Blast     It's a Blast     >It's a CRITICAL BLAST<