The following is a quick review of Michael Bolton’s Big, Sexy Valentine’s Day Special
I – like most people, I assume – view Valentine’s Day as nothing more than another Hallmark holiday. That said, the holiday is celebrated by couples around the world. So while some people call for its extinction, Valentine’s Day is here to stay. A while back, Netflix made a Christmas special with A Very Murray Christmas, and it wasn’t all that memorable. Michael Bolton’s Big, Sexy Valentine’s Day Special, on the other hand, is definitely worth an hour of your time.
The Lonely Island trio introduced a new generation to Michael Bolton in 2011. Michael Bolton was presented as a famous singer, but in the digital short/music video for “Jack Sparrow” Michael Bolton was revealed to be a cinephile. Soon “Jack Sparrow” became a great viral hit. While most people know Bolton for other pop songs – like his cover of “When a Man Loves a Woman” – “Jack Sparrow” was a great way for him to gain a new audience.
And this special is probably more for this new audience, or those that appreciate that he doesn’t take himself to seriously at this point in his career. The special is a series of sketch videos that are shown to get people to, well, have sex. In the special, Bolton meets Santa Claus, and he is told that Santa needs 75,000 kids to be born by next Christmas, and this special ‘show’ is his way of getting it done.
It sounds silly, and it is. Perhaps it sounds a little bit dumb, and, yeah, I’d agree. Michael Bolton’s Big, Sexy Valentine’s Day Special is an hour of dumb, silly fun. It’s not for everyone, but there is an audience for this thing – and The Lonely Island fans will probably enjoy it.
Some of the sketches don’t quite work – especially those in the last half of the special – but it is entertaining all the way through. I really enjoyed a lot of the cameos, and it really worked for me when Bolton got to react to performers. In one sketch, Bolton gets to be the grown-up as he reacts to Randall Park and Sarah Silverman’s odd musical performance.
I was waiting for the moment when he would finally sing “Jack Sparrow,” and it did work for me when he finally did. It was one of the two standout moments. In the other great moment Bolton ‘goes back to his roots’ to sing an old favorite and boost the numbers for the night.
“All hail Lord Bolt(r)on, the King of Valentine’s Day.”
On Valentine’s Day, Netflix invites you to ‘Netflix and Chill’ with Michael Bolton and this one-hour comedic variety special. And if you’ve got nothing else to do on Valentine’s Day – yes, even if you’re single – I’d definitely recommend spending the Hallmark holiday with a night of Netflix and Michael Bolton.
7 out of 10
– Jeffrey Rex
I'm Jeffrey Rex 