Quick Change is a 1990 comedy film starring Bill Murray, who also co-directed with the film's screenwriter Howard Franklin. Geena Davis, Randy Quaid, and Jason Robards co-star. Other cast members include Tony Shalhoub, Stanley Tucci, Phil Hartman, Victor Argo, Kurtwood Smith, Bob Elliott, and Philip Bosco. It is based on a book of the same name by Jay Cronley.
The film is set in New York City, particularly in Manhattan and Queens, with scenes taking place on the New York City Subway and within John F. Kennedy International Airport. Times Square, the Empire State Building, and the Statue of Liberty are also briefly seen.
Currently, Quick Change remains the only directorial credit of Bill Murray's career.
Plot
The movie opens with Grimm (Murray), dressed as a clown, robbing a bank in Midtown Manhattan by ingeniously setting up a hostage situation and slipping away with an enormous sum of money and his accomplices; girlfriend Phyllis (Davis) and best friend Loomis (Quaid). However, whilst the heist itself is comparatively straightforward and easy, the getaway turns into a nightmare; the relatively simple act of getting to the airport to catch a flight out of the city is complicated by the fact that fate, luck and all of New York City appears to be against their escape. Roadworks obscure the roads to the airport, resulting in the three robbers being lost in an unfamiliar part of the city. Then, a con-artist/thief robs the trio of everything they have (except, ironically, the bank money, which they have taped under their clothes). When changing their clothes, they are almost gunned down by the stressed incoming tenant of Grimm's apartment (Phil Hartman), as members of the fire department responding to a call try to push their hydrant-blocking car out of the way only to make it roll away into a ditch; when the trio eventually manages to flag down a cab, the driver (Shalhoub) is revealed to be hopelessly non-fluent in English. An anal-retentive bus driver (Bosco), a run-in with some mobsters and Phyllis' increasing desperation to tell Grimm the news that she is pregnant with his child add further complications. And all the while Rotzinger, the world-weary but relentless chief of the New York City Police Department (Robards), is doggedly but fruitlessly attempting to nab the trio. A final confrontation onboard an airliner at the airport allows the robbers to escape, but the chief gets the consolation prize of having a major crime-boss (Smith) dropped in his lap.
Critical reaction
This little-known film features what critics [2] claim is one of Murray's finest performances: a jaded man who has just had too much of The Big Apple. The film also features strong performance by the supporting cast, particularly Robards as the cop, who, while almost as burned out as Murray, is still determined to capture the robbers as a swan song to finish his long career.
Memorable quotes
[Rotzinger to Grimm Negotiating for Hostages]]
Rotzinger: "At least give me the women!"
Grimm's Reply: "Get your own women!"
Bank Guard: "So I says to him, 'Are you gonna behave?' And from out of nowhere comes this knife. I think it was a bowie knife, and I hate knives....Then I said, 'It's all over, Chuckles,' and wrassled him to the floor, but he got some gal in his sights and I had to let up. That's when he coldcocked me.”
Chief Rotzinger: "Robbers plural?"
Bank Guard: "They all cold-cocked me!"
Street Barker: "Nude women! Nude women!"
[Grimm dressed as a clown walks by]
Street Barker: "Clowns Welcome! Clowns welcome!"
[Grimm dressed as a clown stops bank guard from closing the bank for the day by putting his huge clown shoe in the door]
Bank Guard: "Get lost Bozo!"
[Grimm lifts his clown shirt to reveal he has dynamite strapped to himself]
Bank Guard: "What kind of clown are you!?"
Grimm: "The crying-on-the-inside kind I guess..."
DVD and VHS
Quick Change has been released on VHS in both NTSC and PAL regions in 1991, on Region 1 (NTSC) DVD in 2003 and on Region 2 (PAL) DVD in 2006.
References
External links
