The movie Bill Murray called a “supreme achievement” in comedy
Despite being one of the most famous actors in modern cinema and television, Bill Murray is hard to get a hold of. His lack of traditional representation and talent management means that it’s a difficult task when you want to get a hold of Murray. Whether for an interview or a part in a movie, your best bet has historically been to send a message out into the void and see if the man gets the message somehow.
However, the days of calling Murray on his toll-free phone number are long gone. As he’s aged, Murray has made himself available, especially to those that he favours working with. “It’s not that hard. If you have a good script that’s what gets you involved,” Murray told The Talks in 2010. “People say they can’t find me. Well, if you can write a good script, that’s a lot harder than finding someone. I don’t worry about it; it’s not my problem.”
For a cover story with GQ Magazine in 2010, Murray was perhaps the most open and honest as he had ever been in an interview. When asked about his signature style of comedy – somewhere between deadpan sarcasm and eccentric lunacy – Murray peeled back the curtain to explain his approach.
“Well, obviously a lot of it is rhythm,” Murray explained. “And as often as not, it’s the surprising rhythm. In life and in movies, you can usually guess what someone is going to say—you can actually hear it—before they say it. But if you undercut that just a little, it can make you fall off your chair. It’s small and simple like that.”
“You’re always trying to get your distractions out of the way and be as calm as you can be [breathes in and out slowly], and emotion will just drive the machine,” he added. “It will go through the machine without being interrupted, and it comes out in a rhythm that’s naturally funny. And that funny rhythm is either humorous or touching. It can be either one. But it’s always a surprise. I really don’t know what’s going to come out of my mouth.”
Murray was then complimented on his 1990 directorial effort Quick Change. Although it’s a lesser movie in Murray’s canon, the comedian believes it to be underappreciated. “It’s great. It’s a great piece of writing. And how about the cast? You couldn’t get that cast together for all the tea in China right now. I mean, Stanley Tucci, Tony Shalhoub.”
The conversation then turns to great comedic performances, with Murray giving a shout-out to an unexpected favourite. “Shalhoub gives one of the greatest comic performances I’ve ever seen! Though I do like Michael Caine and Maggie Smith in California Suite,” Murray said. “Unfortunately, the last time I watched it was right after Kung Fu Hustle, which is the supreme achievement of the modern age in terms of comedy.”
“It’s not even close. Quick Change after it looked like a home movie. It looked like a fucking high school film,” Murray enthused. “I was like, ‘Oh man, I just saw this thing,’ and ‘God, that’s just staggering, just staggering. That movie is just AHHHHHH!‘ And when I saw that, I was like: That. Just. Happened. There should have been a day of mourning for American comedy the day that movie came out.”
