It can be difficult to fairly judge a work when it is later alleged somebody behind its creation engaged in unsavory activity. Myself, I try to judge something entirely by its own merits. If Hitler has actually done any great paintings, I would stand by those works even when the creator was a monster. On the other hand, the books of Neil Gaiman present a greater challenge, as I still love many of those, yet find a distance between those and myself after sexual assault allegations against the author surfaced.
With that, 1990 Bill Murray heist comedy Quick Change feels different to me between my first and second viewings when, between those times, co-star Geena Davis has described some monstrous behavior by Murray on the set. It hasn’t completely killed my enjoyment of the picture, but it has skewed my perspective on the actor. I have even started to more thoroughly scrutinize his performances in other movies about which there have been no such accusations.
Admittedly, it tends to be difficult to get a read on Murray, what with his trademark detached demeanor. Is he just being passive aggressive or is it a repressed aggression? I’m sure you can imagine his delivery of this line, in response to Bob Elliott’s bank guard asking him what kind of clown would be packing heat: “I’m laughing on the inside”. And Murray is, indeed, dressed up as a clown. He even has explosives under his roll-up dickey. He shoots up the place, though he doesn’t hurt any people directly. Still, he terrifies the employees and customers, all of whom he locks into the bank vault. He also makes crass sexual suggestions to customer Davis. When watched more critically, a scene like this becomes a bit disturbing, even though you know he isn’t going to assault her. Well, not on screen, at least.
Davis is actually in on the heist. So is Randy Quaid, a friend of his since childhood and who is pretending to be a phone repairman. Those two will be among the first hostages released, as well as a disguised Murray. I thought this was rather clever, making it appear the robber is still in the bank, when he has already made it outside through this ruse.
Detective Jason Robards is over the police detail outside the bank. He is still fulfilling Murray’s demands for a city bus, a helicopter, a motorcycle and a monster truck when Murray makes a call from a distant pay phone while pretending to still be inside the bank. Quaid accidentally honks the car horn and Robards quickly realizes what has happened.
The rest of the film plays out like a watered-down After Hours, as the trio desperately tries to get to the airport, only to encounter a great many hurdles and various complications along the way. Murray will have a great many opportunities to say “I hate this town” and the plot will give him many good reasons to feel that way. There will be missing and incorrect street signs, an enthusiastic cabdriver (Tony Shalhoub!) who doesn’t understand any English, guys jousting on bicycles, a bus driver who is a major stickler for rules and accidentally steal a great deal of money from mobsters (one of which is Stanley Tucci, who would make Big Night with Shalhoub six years later). By the time the airport is in sight, Davis asks of a plane flying overhead, “Is that our plane?” and Murray drolly replies, “No, if it was our plane, it would be crashing.”
Even before learning of the behind-the-scenes drama, something felt strained about the relationship between our leads. I’m not sure if it is supposed to funny, but Davis repeatedly expresses concern Murray has become some sort of mastermind and that he is addicted to the thrill of committing crimes. Since his personality is the same as it is in basically everything else he’s done, that is obviously ridiculous.
There is much here that is intentionally and genuinely funny. I especially liked the exchanges between Robards and Murray, such as this concerning the hostages: “At least give me the women.” “Get your own women!” This tough old detective would probably do better if he wasn’t saddled with assistants like his second-in-command, a man who offers this as consolation: “What’s so memorable about a clown stealing a million dollars?”
The movie is somehow funny and bit trying at the same time. Beyond the first-act heist, it often feels like several sketches that could have been used in different productions were strung together loosely on a frame that is a nearly Kafkaesque attempt to escape New York. Jokes like Shalhoub’s cab driver don’t scan well today. Others feel curiously even more relevant in the present, such as a new development for wealthy residents going up that is named Nouvelle Versailles. It sounds and looks like the kind of place where Trump would live.
Still, I recommend Quick Change to the curious. If nothing else, it is Murray’s sole directorial effort to date, even if he worked in conjunction with Howard Franklin in that capacity. It is also interesting for a cameo by Phil Harman, an actor about which I have never heard an unkind word. I wish I could say the same for Murray.
Dir: Howard Franklin and Bill Murray
Starring Bill Murray, Geena Davis, Randy Quaid, Jason Robards
Watched on Warner Archive blu-ray