Episode 12 : Quick Change

We’re big fans of Bill Murray here at the podcast, so we’d be remiss if we didn’t have a special episode the week of his birthday. This time out, we went for some stellar deep cuts, focusing on 1990’s Quick Change. It’s been called the best Billy Murray movie you’ve never seen, so we think it’s high time to reintroduce this mainstream, yet obscure favorite.

▶️ Three New York bank robbers (Murray, Geena Davis and Randy Quaid) successfully pull off a multi-million dollar heist, but that wasn’t even the hard part. Getting out of New York proves to be the worst part of the entire nightmare. Quick Change is a bittersweet, breakup love letter to New York— it’s obvious there is love for the city, but the frustration and irritation of daily life has finally taken its toll. We’ll discuss the perfectly selected cast, how the film was received by critics and how this is Murray’s only directing credit to date.

▶️ For our Picks of the Week, we decided to go for supporting roles that could have used more Murray. Justin revisits Kingpin (1996), and how Murray is clearly the standout star of that film, even though he only has a few scenes. Lindsay digs deep for a partially uncredited supported role in Tootsie (1982) — yes, he did have a significant role in this cross-dressing classic.

▶️ And for this special birthday episode of Billy, we go into the 21-year long rift between our guy and his former close friend and comedy partner, Harold Ramis. What exactly happened between the two, and was it ever resolved before Ramis passed away?

▶️ Quick Change is another film that inspired this podcast, both because it’s a fabulous film and largely because it’s still not given enough credit. Twists and obstacles propel this movie forward, making it an engaging, off-beat comedy. It’s not typical one-liner style or predictable. It was a risky move to make this type of unusual comedy in the early 90s, and we bring it up from the archives so as to not forget this quirky and smart film.