I remember seeing Bill Murray on Letterman a few years ago, and Dave was looking over Murray's filmography, talking about all the great films he'd done.  As he made his way down the list, at one point he said, "Quick Change, I don't remember that one." To which Murray immediately responded, "It's good, I'll let you borrow it, I've got a copy."  It was a funny line, but it also made me sad, because I think a lot of people are unfortunately like Letterman in this discussion.

One of the more sadly overlooked and underrated comedies ever made, Quick Change is a minor masterpiece of a screwball bank heist and getaway that brings out the best in its stars and makes the most of its very funny, very wry script.  The film was a flop upon its release in 1990, as it was apparently difficult to market, considering the commercials and trailers didn't manage to capture the zainier aspects while still playing up Bill Murray's typical snark.

It's a shame, because a lot of people missed out on this gem.  Murray plays the appropriately named Grimm, leader of a trio fed up with New York City and society in general that decide to rob a bank.  His girlfriend Phyllis (Geena Davis) and his best friend Loomis (Randy Quaid) are in disguise inside the bank when Grimm arrives to rob it, dressed like a clown.  This was the centerpiece of the marketing campaign, and perhaps rightfully so, given that Murray as a gun-toting clown is a pretty amusing visual.  The problem is, this only constitutes about the first quarter of the film.

From there it turns into a hellish Escape From New York in modern day NYC (circa ‘90, anyway), to great comic effect.  Stolen cars, bad directions, multiple plane tickets, mistaken identity, violent accidents, robberies, and surprise revelations about the group abound as the film rollicks toward the tarmac finale.

All the while, the Chief of Police, Rotzinger (Jason Robards), just happens to be trying to wrap up a long career in law enforcement when this bank robbing clown escapes with the loot.  Robards toes a fine line between comically exhausted and comically furious while trying to figure out what exactly happened and tracking where the clown could have gone.  He does typically great work that grounds the entire film in a strong sense of reality.  Had they just cast another comedian as the police chief, it may have made the whole picture too outrageous and campy, and would have resulted in just another average crime caper.  As it is, in the end, you genuinely want both sides to come out on top, as you develop hope that both the police chief and the criminals can win, because they both so surely deserve to.

Murray is terrific as the leader of the group, and plays off his co-stars well.  He's the driving force of the picture, a movie he co-directed with the screenwriter Howard Franklin, incidentally.  As he's proved his whole career, Murray is capable of being funny whether the script is top notch (Rushmore, Groundhog Day) or not (The Man Who Knew Too Little, Ghostbusters II).  He'd be funny reading the obituaries.  Here at least he has a solid script, and a great supporting team to work with.  He and Davis make for a sweet couple, despite their anarchic activities, and he plays a strong straight man/antagonizer to Quaid's wild and woolly Loomis. 

Also aiding the effort is a slew of hilarious performances in bit roles, by the likes of Phil Hartman, Stanley Tucci, Tony Shalhoub, Kurtwood Smith and Philip Bosco.  Best, perhaps, may be the elderly security guard in the bank, played by Bob Elliott.  His complete acquiescence during the bank robbery ("I'm just an old man"), balanced against his stories to the cops later ("I said, ‘Listen here, Chuckles...') is classic.

An overall tone of comic desperation pervades every scene of the film.  Whether it's the criminals trying to catch a bus, or trying to tell a cab driver where to go, or escaping getting robbed/killed by the mob, the main conflict at all times is not good guys v. bad guys, but really both verses The City and its denizens.  Rotzinger says as much when hoping the crooks haven't managed to flee the country yet, wishing that they got stuck in the same urban nightmare they all experience everyday.  New York looms as this symbol of everything wrong with their lives nearly from beginning to end, and it is directly responsible at times during the film as being the cause of a lot of strife for both sides of the contest.

The best sequence of the film is likely the bank robbery, and the clever escape by the three bandits, and that makes the film feel a bit front loaded, but that's unavoidable.  Murray in the clown outfit, making outrageous demands in order to release hostages (a monster truck with a tilting hydraulic body, e.g.), is just too funny to easily follow.  Grimm's conversations with the police chief are great, as well as his hysterical interactions with the various hostages.  When it ends, you almost feel like you've watched a whole movie in its entirety already.  Then Grimm is shown without the makeup, calling from a payphone instead of the bank manager's desk, and it's a different film.

Despite this dichotomy, the plot does hold together through the transition, even if the halves aren't entirely level.  Quick Change is an immensely entertaining and engaging film that stands up with the best of Bill Murray's films, and deserves a wider audience than its had, to be sure.

The Goatius Grade = 4.0

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD