Make the Case: 5 Essential Bill Murray Films

3. What About Bob? (1991)

Bob Wiley might be the most positive character Bill Murray has ever played. The fact that Murray makes a man who essentially (although unintentionally) stalks and destroys his shrink’s life so sympathetic is a testament to Murray’s talent. We know better, but we don’t really fault Bob for being so desperate to establish a real connection with a human being. He’s screwed up, but he’s not a psychopath. It doesn’t hurt either that Richard Dreyfuss’ Dr. Leo Marvin is profoundly unlikable. What About Bob? Is breezy fun, and it is confidently directed by Frank Oz. However, yet again, the reason why this movie is so goddamn funny and worth watching is because of Murray. He plays Bob with three defining characteristics: Positivity, sincerity, and relentlessness. He manages to keep the character from ever getting creepy, and he wins us over as readily as he wins over the rest of Marvin’s family.

 

4. Lost in Translation (2003)

Lost in Translation scored Murray his one and only Oscar nomination (I doubt he will ever get another one). In playing a washed up actor, a label Murray had managed to get away from at this point (thanks, Wes Anderson), Murray nails the inevitable mid-life crisis that actors have to either deal with, or play characters who have to deal with it. He somehow keeps Bob from ever coming across as self-serving or pathetic. He does well as a man who knows that something needs to change, doesn’t know what it is, but is at least open to whatever comes up.

Murray does even better in his screen time with Scarlett Johansson. Both actors (as well as Sofia Coppola’s screenplay) are successful in creating a relationship that is romantic without being sexual. Not once does Johansson’s youth serve to jumpstart the sad sack aging malcontent that the typical Bill Murray character has become at this point. This is not the best performance of Murray’s career, but at the time of its release, it contributed a great comeback to the comeback that had begun with Rushmore. Watching the movie twelve years after its release, understanding why it did that is not hard.

 

5. Kingpin (1996)

Woody Harrelson, Randy Quaid, and Vanessa Angel all do good work in this entertaining, but ultimately forgettable Farrelly brothers comedy about bowling and the triumph of the human spirit (not really, no). Kingpin is still stuff that holds up well enough, but the real fun in watching Kingpin is in watching Bill Murray’s sublime scumbag performance. Murray only occasionally gets to play antagonists who are devoid of even a sarcastic suggestion of positive qualities, but are no less compelling than his more likable performances. Professional bowling legend Ernie McCracken might be Murray’s least likable character in the actor’s long career. He also happens to be one of Murray’s funniest performances. It’s a small role, but Murray steals things so flawlessly, you kind of wish for an Ernie McCracken movie instead.