Rating: 14/20
Plot: Grimm, along with his friend Loomis and love interest Phyllis, concoct a brilliant scheme to rob a bank. They escape the bank easily enough but run into problems trying to get out of New York City.
There's just something funny about Murray as a clown, complete with balloons and an exaggerated smile, threatening dogs, shooting poorly at security cameras, and asking for receipts for customers of the bank he happens to be robbing. And nobody does cynical as well as Bill Murray. Here, he's easily the most likable character in the first act of this comedy. It takes a cynical storyteller to make the guy robbing the bank, especially if he's dressed as a clown considering how many people suffer from coulrophobia, more likable than any of his hostages. And it takes a cynical storyteller to paint New York City like it's painted here, a city of nothing but gristle and oddballs. Other than the airport, these aren't the parts of New York City that are generally advertised. It also takes a cynical storyteller to portray the media as it's portrayed here. There's a little too much daffiness to keep it from being a classic, but it's got a handful of funny scenes after the great set-up and clever heist storyline in the first twenty minutes or so. It's also got a cute Geena Davis and an even cuter Randy Quaid, the classier of the Quaids. You have to look a little more closely, but you can also see a little Phil Hartman, Stanley Tucci, and Tony Shalhoub in there as well. This has some pacing issues and is generally uneven, but it's hard to argue the brilliance of something that features both the line "Up your butt with a coconut" and a scene with bicycle jousting. If this movie had come out between 1982 and 1985, I more than likely would have died during a bicycle jousting incident, by the way. Oh, who am I kidding? I would have been great at that. Somebody would have died though.
3 comments:
I'm so glad you got this movie under you cinema belt. I know it's not a classic by anyone's standards, but it's just one of those movies that makes you appreciate an actor like Murray even more. Especially knowing that he directed the damn thing! You can tell that his sense of humor is aloud to pour through a little more than, say, "Scrooged" or "What About Bob?" He's got control of the helm, and, in my opinion, that makes the movie a little more fluid.
I see the problems, though, which keep it from being anything more than a 15/20. It's just a bland love story, in the end. There's no deeper context or life lesson for the audience to really apply to themselves (that's how Groundhog Day makes it into the classic genre). Also, it just gets stupid as they get closer to the airport. Instead of laugh, you almost want to just slap your forehead.
But, the beginning really wins you over, and is SO good that it makes you sit and watch the whole movie. Not many movies bank on their openings. I love Murray as the clown. My favorite line is when Jason Robards as the cop asks if Murray will send out hostages:
Robards: "Will you at least send out the women?"
Murray: "Get your own women!"
I need to see this again. I do remember it being a fun suprise when I first saw it. A 16 from memory, but I'll watch it again, soon.
For me, it starts great and gradually goes downhill. Maybe I would have liked it more if I watched it backward. I am glad I watched it though.
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