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On the short list of post- classic-era comedies I can see over and over again is this beautifully executed Bill Murray crime comedy, which he co-directed. The fact that its basically silly main joke is whining about New York City doesn’t keep it from being hilarious from one end to the other. When it comes time for a getaway to the airport, Manhattan might as well be an impenetrable maze, an island of doom. Geena Davis and Randy Quaid give excellent comedy support, while Jason Robards holds up the police dragnet end of the story. The disc has no special extras but Murray’s movie is as satisfying as ever.

Quick Change

Blu-ray

Warner Archive Collection

1990 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 88 min. / Available at Amazon.com / Street Date April 27, 2021 / 21.99

Starring: Bill Murray, Geena Davis, Randy Quaid, Jason Robards, Bob Elliott, Brian McConnachie, Jamey Sheridan, Larry Joshua, Phil Hartman, Kathryn Grody, Tony Shalhoub,...

The story goes that Bill Murray and screenwriter Howard Franklin developed their adaptation of Jay Cronley’s novel “Quick Change” – released in theaters thirty years ago this week – with Jonathan Demme in mind to direct, but the filmmaker turned it down to make “The Silence of the Lambs.” (That abrupt transition mostly serves as a reminder of what a shift “Silence” was for Demme; “Quick Change” is much more in the mold of his earlier ‘80s films like “Married to the Mob” and “Something Wild.”) They asked Ron Howard, who turned it down because “he didn’t know who to root for.” (“He lost me at that moment,” Murray said.

Continue reading ‘Quick Change’ At 30: No One Directed Bill Murray Quite Like Bill Murray at The Playlist.

Everybody loves Bill Murray. Okay, maybe that's not 100% true, but there are days where it seems like it's true. Bill Murray is well aware of the way people feel about him, and over the course of his very strange career, he has taken full advantage of the latitude that people grant him because of the persona he has cultivated. Bill Murray has become something more than a comic lead, something bigger than a movie start, and arguably something more impressive and enduring than a legend. Bill Murray is an urban myth. Talk about transcending your corporeal form, man. We've all heard the Bill Murray stories, wild tales about the actor showing up at a party, staying till dawn, then doing all the dishes in the house before slipping out the back door without a goodbye, or tackling someone in the park before whispering to them, "No one will be believe you.