Plot: From the minds of Steve Martin, Dan Fogelman and John Hoffman comes a comedic murder-mystery series for the ages. “Only Murders In The Building” follows three strangers (Steve Martin, Martin Short and Selena Gomez) who share an obsession with true crime and suddenly find themselves wrapped up in one. When a grisly death occurs inside their exclusive Upper West Side apartment building, the trio suspects murder and employs their precise knowledge of true crime to investigate the truth. As they record a podcast of their own to document the case, the three unravel the complex secrets of the building which stretch back years. Perhaps even more explosive are the lies they tell one another. Soon, the endangered trio comes to realize a killer might be living amongst them as they race to decipher the mounting clues before it’s too late.
Review: Steve Martin and Martin Short are icons and two of the funniest performers of all time. Seeing them reteam is more than enough reason to tune in for Only Murders in the Building, a series co-created and written by Steve Martin and featuring an all-star cast led by Selena Gomez. Channeling the differences between Boomers and Millennials through the lens of a true-crime podcast, this series takes the concept of a murder mystery and the whodunit style of Knives Out and delivers it in a hilariously dark comedy that also highlights just how damn good the three leads are as actors. This is a series that may not be quite as cutting edge as the earlier work from Martin and Short but it is some of the best work they have done in years.
The ten-episode series (of which 8 episodes were made available for this review) begins with three strangers who live in the same building, The Arconia, in New York City. Charles (Steve Martin) is an actor who lives alone and avoids friendships. Oliver (Martin Short) is a Broadway director who has fallen on hard times after a massive flop. Mabel (Selena Gomez) is a young woman renovating an apartment in the building. All three are brought together by a shared love of a true-crime podcast. When Tim Kono, a young investment banker, dies under mysterious circumstances, the trio looks into it and decides to record their adventures. Very quickly, it becomes apparent that there are deeper motives to the death of Tim Kono as well as all three of these main characters.
With supporting roles played by Amy Ryan, Nathan Lane, and a hilarious cameo by none other than Sting, the star- power in this series is not limited to the leads. Everyone does a great job of treating this as a serious story that happens to be funny rather than going for cheap laughs. There are some, of course, involving everything from nosebleeds to dead cats, but most of the time the humor comes from the solid writing. Steve Martin plays Charles mostly as a bit of a hermit who starts to come out of his shell while Martin Short does the broadest performance. But even Short’s over-the-top Oliver is carrying a lot of emotional baggage that explains why he is the way he is. In the early episodes, each character has moments of their own that made me invest in following this story to the end.
By focusing on amateur sleuths who make stupid decisions and yet still stumble into a more complex mystery than they anticipated is perfect for these actors. Selena Gomez plays the straightest role of the three and despite being four decades younger than her co-stars, she plays off of them like a veteran. You can easily overlook how the narrative puts them together with many plot elements stretching credulity, but like any mystery story, these are red herrings that keep us coming back for more. As the season progresses, I began predicting what leads would end up being false as well as what the next twist was going to be. My biggest issue with Only Murders In The Building is that it tends to use some cliche misdirection and reveals that have been seen countless times before.
With episodes directed by Jamie Babbitt (But I’m A Cheerleader), Gillian Robespierre (Obvious Child), Don Scardino (30 Rock), and Cherien Dabis (Ramy), this series looks more like a movie than a TV show. The Arconia itself is populated by so many familiar faces and character actors that it feels like a character unto itself. The title of the series refers to the podcasters only wanting to focus on crimes within The Arconia which makes me wonder if, without divulging any spoilers about this season, whether creators Steve Martin and John Hoffman (Grace and Frankie) would look to set subsequent seasons in the same place but with new characters. I would love to see Steve Martin and Martin Short continue to work together on screen, especially if Selena Gomez returns as well.
Only Murders In The Building did not end up being what I expected but that doesn’t mean I didn’t thoroughly enjoy it. So many series have adapted true crime podcasts as serious dramatizations that I partially expected this to be a spoof. Instead, it is a solid ensemble comedy with a lot more dramatic tension than I anticipated. Selena Gomez holds her own against two living legends of comedy who end up giving some of the best performances of their careers. This is a series that is funny, touching, and far more balanced than I was prepared for. It may not be as laugh-out-loud funny as some classic Steve Martin and Martin Short films, but it comes pretty close.
Only Murders In The Building premieres on August 31st on Hulu.
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