Quentin Tarantino compares the work of Bill Murray and Chevy Chase
For many people around the world, Bill Murray movies and his brand of comedy have been comforting childhood staples. However, there is one prominent cinephile who considers Murray to be an inferior and less substantial version of Chevy Chase. That famous Bill Murray critic is none other than Quentin Tarantino.
Recently, many popular figures such as Geena Davis have come forward to share horrifying stories about Murray’s condemnable actions in the past. These reports have only increased in number after Murray was accused of sexually assaulting a female staffer on the set of Being Mortal, the suspended directorial debut of Aziz Ansari.
However, Tarantino’s criticisms of Murray have nothing to do with his questionable behaviour with his co-workers and the people around him. During an appearance on the Joe Rogan Experience, Tarantino compared Murray’s body of work to that of Chevy Chase and claimed that Chase always displayed qualities that he preferred from a comedy role.
Tarantino said: “The critics always really preferred Bill Murray movies to Chevy Chase movies. However, it does seem as if the point of all the Bill Murray movies is that he’s this kind of hip, cool, curmudgeon, smartass guy, who, in the last 20 minutes, gets a transformation and becomes this nice guy and almost apologises for who he was.”
The filmmaker added: “Stripes. Groundhog Day. Scrooged. The whole thing… Like, for instance, Stripes… How does he go from where Warren Oates kicks his ass Deservedly kicks his ass. He deserves to get belly punched by Warren Oates in that movie…. How does he go from being this iconoclastic, ‘I don’t give a fuck about anything. I get beaten up by Warren Oates’, to now he’s rallying the troops.”
According to Tarantino, the character arcs of Chevy Chase’s roles aren’t nearly as narcissistic as those of Murray. The director pointed out that Chase’s characteristic attitude remains consistent throughout his films which is why Chase’s on-screen persona is so effective.
While talking about Chase’s brilliant performances, Tarantino commented: “Chevy Chase movies don’t play that shit. Chevy Chase is the same supercilious asshole at the end of the movie that he is at the beginning. He never changes in his stuff. He’s always like a bit of a dick. And he’s always completely sarcastic.”
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