Bill Murray Quick Change Views

General Goods

Quick Change is a 1990 comedy film starring Bill Murray, who also co-directed with the film's screenwriter Howard Franklin. Geena Davis, Randy Quaid, and Jason Robards co-star. Other cast members include Tony Shalhoub, Stanley Tucci, Phil Hartman, Victor Argo, Kurtwood Smith, Bob Elliott, and Philip Bosco. It is based on a book of the same name by Jay Cronley.

Quick Change (1990) The character: Grimm What about him: A bank robber disguised as a clown who spends the entire movie just trying to make his getaway -- out of New York City. Murray moment: A guard asks him, What the hell kind of clown are you? Grimm replies, The ... morecrying-on-the-inside kind, I guess. Analysis: The underrated comedy Quick Change is a fine showcase for Murray's low-key improvisational style. Having perfected his deadpan in Ghostbusters, he extends it here. His character can even improvise on top of his own improvisations, as when he bluffs his way into a mobster operation, pretending (on the spur of the moment) to be the bag man they were expecting. When his accomplice (Geena Davis) silently questions what the hell he's doing, he momentarily breaks character and you see the fear and panic in his eyes: I have no idea. And then -- snap! -- he's back in character, and back in control of the scene that he's creating moment by moment. (Everett Collection)

Murray returned to films in 1988 with Scrooged and the sequel Ghostbusters II in 1989. In 1990, Murray made his first and only attempt at directing when he co-directed Quick Change with producer Howard Franklin. His subsequent films What About Bob? (1991) and Groundhog Day (1993) were box-office hits and critically acclaimed.

Bill Murray has vowed never to work on a movie with Ron Howard again after the director rejected the actor's offer to direct bank heist film Quick Change because he didn't think it was funny. Murray made his directorial debut with the 1990 film only because no one else wanted to make it and he's still sore about having to step behind the camera. And he still holds a grudge against movie maker Howard for criticizing the comedy he co-wrote before saying no. Murray explains, You know we couldn't get anyone we liked to direct 'Quick Change'. We asked (Jonathan) Demme, and Demme said no. And we asked Ron Howard, because Ron Howard had made something that I thought was funny. He made a funny movie back then - I can't remember what it was. He said he didn't know who to root for in the script... He lost me at that moment. I've never gone back to him since.