Quick Change (1990)

Starring: Bill Murray, Geena Davis, Randy Quaid, Jason Robards, Phil Hartman, Tony Shalhoub, Stanley Tucci, and Kurtwood Smith
Grade: A+

Randy Quaid ruined what could have been another comedy classic.

Summary

In New York City, Grimm (Murray) travels by subway dressed as a clown to midtown Manhattan. He gets to a bank three minutes before closing, just as the old bank guard (Bob Elliott) is about to shut the door. The guard tells him to come back tomorrow, but Grimm stops the door from closing with his clown shoes. Next, he pulls out his gun to show he means business. Once inside, Grimm shows the guard the bomb strapped to his chest and lets him know he’s robbing the bank. The guard doesn’t want any trouble and even gives Grimm his gun. Grimm has the guard walk in with him and calmly states to everyone in the bank that this is a robbery, holding up his gun to show everyone. Everyone thinks he’s joking because he’s dressed like a clown, and they go back to what they’re doing. Grimm says it again and some are even seen laughing. Still, the same response persists. So, Grimm fires the gun into the air. Immediately, the bank workers set off the silent alarm while Grimm starts directing everyone to put their hands up and such. Loomis (Quaid) starts screaming about how they’re all going to die, so Grimm shuts him up by pointing his gun at him and commenting how no one likes a whiner. Next, he tells everyone to not move. However, he goes right up to a small dog that an older lady is holding and threatens it for doing the exact opposite (“What did I just say?”). He puts the bag on the table and tells the worker to give him the money, but the customer complains that it’s his money she’s grabbing. Grimm tells him to calm down because it’s insured, but the customer points out how he hasn’t gotten his receipt yet. They can’t insure it if he doesn’t have a receipt. Realizing he’s right, Grimm tells the worker to give the customer his receipt. Then, he corrects the customer’s grammar. After confirming that no one else needs a receipt, he leads all the customers and workers into the vault. Outside, the cops arrive. Back inside, everyone is in the vault and Grimm grabs the keys to the vault from the guard. Next, he gives the worker another bag to fill. This time, he wants the money from inside the vault. Grimm grabs bank manager Princeton next because he wants Princeton to make a phone call for him. As Grimm closes the vault door on the others, he lets them know ahead of time that the police will want him to let some of the people go as a sign of good faith.

As he holds the hand of Princeton, he tells them that the best way out is to stay calm. If they want proof that Grimm is serious, he promises to “carve up the troublemakers first”. Hearing this, Loomis starts freaking out and the others in the vault are already starting to get annoyed with him. With this, Grimm takes Princeton to use the phone. As the two get back into the lobby, Princeton tells Grimm to give up because there is only one exit door.

Ignoring him, Grimm gives him the phone and tells him to redirect the message that if anyone gets near the building, he will blow it up. Grimm shows him the bomb strapped to his chest. If he doesn’t hear from the guy in charge in 15 minutes, Grimm promises to send Princeton’s thumb through the night depository. Princeton gets on the phone and says they have less than 15 minutes to call in and to not come near the bank because Grimm is covered in dynamite. Outside, snipers get stationed and crowds gather to where the road is blocked off to see what’s happening. Naturally, the vendors see this as the perfect time to try and sell hot dogs and such to the gathering crowds. Chief of Police Walt Rotzinger (Robards) shows up to the scene, and they let him know there are 12 people in there, there’s one guy heavily armed, and bank security got his picture. After showing Rotzinger the picture of Grimm as a clown with a gun, he is also told the hostage negotiator is on his way. Surprisingly, Rotzinger tells the other cop that the hostage negotiator won’t be needed because he’s confident he can handle this himself. In the vault, people are making up their wills and praying, but the most notable person is still Loomis freaking out. Even the guard tells him to shut up and calls him a crybaby. Phyllis (Davis) tries to console Loomis. In the lobby, Grimm shoots out the main camera and answers the phone right after. It’s Rotzinger, and he demands Grimm exit the building immediately. Grimm mentions how he was in Vietnam with a jerk like him, and the other cops listening in on the line know they’re in for a long day with that comment. Rotzinger calms down a bit and questions what he should call him. Liking the name “Chip”, Grimm says to call him that. Once Rotzinger asks what the recent shooting was all about, Grimm changes his mind and wants to be called “Skip”. Playing along, Rotzinger goes with it and again asks what the shooting was all about. Grimm tells him it was the cameras and how they were “looking at me”. Seeing another camera, Grimm shouts, “Quit looking at me!” and shoots another one from where he’s sitting.

The dog in the bank is heard barking, but the cops listening in think it’s Grimm that’s the one barking.

Rotzinger lets Grimm know how they can be inside the bank and on top of him in a heartbeat. He’s confident that if Grimm tries to run, he won’t get 5 feet. As he puts all the money on the desk that he’s sitting at, Grimm relays to Rotzinger that one bullet shot could hit some dynamite and blow up the whole street because he’s planted it everywhere. Trying to telegraph what Grimm has planned for his exit strategy, Rotzinger suggests that he’s thinking about switching on a tape recorder, so Rotzinger talks to a machine while Grimm crawls out through the third-floor heating vent. Grimm doesn’t think it’s a bad plan, but he can’t fit in the vent with all the money. Plus, he’s booby trapped the vent with heavy explosives. Hearing this and taking it seriously, Rotzinger motions for the squad of policemen scaling the building to get off. Seeing the cops get down, the outside crowd starts booing. Grimm looks outside the window and comments how much he hates New York City. Moving on, Rotzinger starts bringing up how he wants the people out of the bank. In exchange, Grimm wants a city bus with a full tank of gas, a Harley Davidson XL-1000, a monster truck, and two Jet Ranger helicopters on the street. As he says this, Grimm uses a tape gun to tape down the money on the desk. Rotzinger agrees to get him all the vehicles, but he wants the hostages in return. Grimm jokes how he’s sure no harm will come to him when he’s inside the bank by himself. Rotzinger instead suggests just the women (“Get your own women!”). Grimm counters by offering one hostage per demand. Rotzinger refuses this and threatens to bust in there with the cops. Grimm calls his bluff and calmy responds that he’s going to hang up to kill everyone, forcing Rotzinger to back off. He tells Grimm he will need time to find two jet cruisers and pilots who are willing to fly an armed felon. Grimm responds that he doesn’t need a pilot and they have 30 minutes to meet his first demand. After Grimm takes down his number, Rotzinger reminds him to not try anything rash, or he will be dead along with everyone else.

Grimm gets the last laugh when he asks about the area code of the number to annoy Rotzinger before hanging up on him. Following this, Rotzinger tells his crew to get all the vehicles and line them up outside as soon as they arrive. Lt. Dennis Jameson (Richard Joseph Paul) asks Rotzinger if it’s a diversion or if Grimm is crazy, but Rotzinger knows he’s not crazy.

Rotzinger thinks Grimm will come out of the bank with a few hostages also dressed as clowns. He’ll make a run for one of the helicopters assuming they are too afraid to shoot a hostage. Another cop asks if they are, but Rotzinger doesn’t respond to this. Instead, he mentions the key response from Grimm about how he doesn’t need a pilot, so it’s safe to assume Grimm will be the one flying it because he probably learned how in Vietnam. Rotzinger points out the snipers, adding that they will figure out which clown will take the controls of the chopper and how they will take him out before he leaves the ground. Inside, Grimm makes it back over to the vault. One of the hostages (Jack Gilpin) is sure Grimm will let one of them go. The guard suggests the oldest go first. The smarmy yuppie hostage sarcastically responds how this makes sense considering he’ll be the first to die of natural causes. Loomis mentions how he’s going to throw up, so Phyllis suggests they let him go first, but nobody there wants to help Loomis out. Grimm enters the vault, and the yuppie tells Grimm that he will be the first hostage to go. Grimm questions who decided this, and the yuppie admits he did himself. Grimm explains how it’s not his decision and calls him “Adolf Hitler”. After Grimm grabs the money from the vault that the worker put in a bag for him, Loomis pukes into his glove. Grimm lets him know that he’s the type of person that gets innocent bystanders killed. Hearing the helicopters outside, Grimm knows they are meeting his first demand. To show the yuppie, who Grimm refers to as a “fascist dictator”, how their system works, Grimm lets them know he will allow all the people there decide who will be the first to go. Immediately, they all point to Loomis, so Grimm takes him. Outside, a helicopter arrives and parks outside the building. Next, Loomis is let outside by himself, and he kisses the ground. A TV reporter asks Loomis if human life is at stake, and Loomis responds that death is in the air and how Grimm said that he knew how to make men sit up and bark.

Inside, Grimm is watching it on his portable television and sarcastically comments “Don’t exaggerate or anything”. At the same time, he puts more money stacks on the desk and uses the tape gun to tape them down. The reporter mentions how the clown heading up the bank robbery is a clown that no one is laughing at. Grimm comments to himself how original it was.

Grimm goes back to the vault, and the yuppie offers his Audemar-piguet, moon-phase, 18-karat gold watch with an alligator band worth $12,000 that keeps appreciating every day. Grimm likes it but doesn’t want to impose. However, the yuppie insists, as he clearly is trying to entice Grimm into letting him go next. Grimm wants to buy it for $300 instead, but the yuppie kind of balks at this. Grimm challenges anyone in the vault to make a higher offer, but no one responds, allowing Grimm to force the transaction. He gifts the yuppie his Timex, adding that the band is the twist-a-flex by Speidel. Additionally, Grimm comments how he appreciates the watch more and more every day. Grimm goes over to Phyllis and tries to flirt, but she insults him for his actions. Grimm jokingly acts as if he’s sobbing and shows his bomb jacket to freak everyone else out, prompting Princeton to say Phyllis doesn’t speak for the rest of them. He showers Grimm with compliments to ease the situation, and everyone agrees, but Phyllis calls him a pussy along with everyone else. Princeton suggests Grimm take Phyllis out next because Grimm doesn’t need this kind of aggravation. Outside, Dennis tells Rotzinger they have an ex-Green Beret under the backseat of the city bus. In the motorcycle, they have exactly enough gas for a half a mile, and they have stationed their sharpshooters a half mile in every possible direction. The monster truck is about a half hour out. He asks if the hostage gave a description of the bank robber, but it’s useless information because it’s just a description of Grimm’s clown outfit. Next, Rotzinger calls Grimm and lets him know his bike and bus are out there. With this, he’s owed two more hostages. Grimm says they are coming and to let him know when the monster truck arrives. Following this, the next two hostages are let out. It’s Phyllis and Grimm himself. However, Grimm isn’t wearing his clown costume. He’s in normal clothes, a realistic orange wig, mustache, and glasses. He’s questioned and Grimm talks about the robber being an animal who was ripping out phones, pissing on desks, and how he tore part of Phyllis’s shirt, referring to her as “Miss Cochran”.

Standing next to him is Phyllis. She is fairly calm and says its fine.

Rotzinger asks if the robber hurt anyone else or if any strain is beginning to show on him. Grimm fake-quotes the robber and tells Rotzinger he said that if he slept 10 days and nights in a rice bed that he could certainly last in a bank, referencing the Vietnam line. As he says this, Phyllis sees some of the white clown makeup behind Grimm’s ear. Phyllis tries to gesture to him, but Grimm ignores her because he continues with his fake storytelling about how the bank robber was considering assaulting Phyllis. Rotzinger asks if he saw any dynamite, and Grimm confirms it’s everywhere and hostages are strapped to tables as shields. A car horn distracts everyone, so Phyllis uses the moment to ask Grimm if he’s okay while using her finger to clean off the last remnants of the clown paint. Rotzinger tells Officer Martin to take Grimm and Phyllis to the doctor as a precaution. While they are taken to the doctor, Grimm makes sure to reiterate to Rotzinger how the bank robber is an animal. As the monster truck appears on the scene and the cop driving it waves to the crowd after being cheered, Rotzinger calls the bank and gets no answer. It’s 4:48PM. He tells Dennis that if the bank robber doesn’t call back by 5PM, they will storm the bank. Time seems to standstill, with everyone waiting for the next move. Just as it hits 5PM, Grimm calls Rotzinger and asks for more time, promising not to hurt anyone. He says he will call him right back. In actuality, Grimm is long gone and calling from a payphone, acting as if he’s still inside the bank! He’s out of his disguise and is celebrating with Phyllis and Loomis who are also out of their disguises! It turns out that Phyllis is Grimm’s girlfriend and Loomis is his best friend! Phyllis has champagne, and Loomis hugs the both of them, as they have successfully pulled off the robbery. Loomis goes to the car to give Grimm and Phyllis a private moment. She hugs Grimm and asks if he remembers the night he proposed. Grimm does, recalling when the pipes froze, the heater broke, and how she looked at Grimm like it was his fault. It led to Grimm talking about how he knew a way out of this, proposing they rob a bank. She says again to him that she will, and they kiss.

Changing the subject, Phyllis wants to tell him something she found out yesterday, but she gets distracted because Grimm laughs and says that he feels “complete” in this very moment. Phyllis tells him that he was already complete. If he was any more complete, it would be a little scary.

Just then, a group of vagrants drive by. Phyllis comments how it might be the bad neighborhood they are in that might be why they are getting in touch with their feelings. Grimm comments that it might be the fortune they have as well. Pivoting, he goes to make another call to Rotzinger to keep their lie up. Roztinger answers in one ring and tells him that his monster truck is there, so Grimm responds that he has to check it by looking out the window. He tells Rotzinger to have his men move back. He puts down the phone for a second and asks Phyllis what she wanted to tell him, but she wants to wait. Grimm goes back to the phone and tells Rotzinger that he can see from where he’s at that the monster truck doesn’t have a hydraulic tilt body, so it’s unacceptable. Rotzinger is pissed because Grimm never said anything about that and they had to get the truck all the way from New Jersey. Grimm tells Rotzinger to not insult him, to get a respectable monster truck, and to not get back to him until he does so. Just as Grimm is about to hang up, Loomis accidentally hits the horn on the car. Rotzinger hears it from the other line and asks what it was. Knowing he has to explain it in some way, Grimm can’t hang up just yet. Grimm walks around Rotzinger’s question on account of him trying to change the subject and reiterates that they will not get any hostages without a tilt body. Rotzinger tells him it will take time to find a tilting hydraulic body, but Grimm says it’s not his problem and hangs up. A somber Grimm goes straight to Loomis and stares at him, disappointed. The cops would have waited forever to go into the bank had he not accidentally hit the horn. Loomis is sorry because he knows he messed up bad, with Grimm adding that he could have called from anywhere in the world tonight just to tell them that he was still in the bank. An annoyed Phyllis throws the champagne out the window of the car. Grimm sits in the backseat with Phyllis and tells Loomis to drive to the airport. For now, they will pretend this didn’t happen.

Meanwhile, Rotzinger is with the surveillance crew in the truck, and they are going over the audio. He points out the beep on the phone call in the recording and asks for them to isolate it. Dennis suggests it’s a horn that a clown carries, and another brings up how sometimes a clown nose could be a horn. Rotzinger bypasses this and tells the sound engineer he wants to know what beep it is and fast. Right now, he hypothesizes it was a car horn.

As Rotzinger and his crew work to confirm this and figure out a way to catch the bank robbers. Grimm, Phyllis, and Loomis race against the clock to escape New York before they are caught. Evidently, this becomes harder than the robbery itself.

My Thoughts:

A unique take on the bank robbery premise if there ever was one, Quick Change is almost always forgotten when Bill Murray’s best comedies are discussed, and it’s not fair. Along with Groundhog Day, his co-directed crime comedy with buddy Howard Franklin is very much part of the final stretch of what fans may consider the end of peak Murray. You could match Quick Change up with any Murray vehicle from the 80s and it would belong in the conversation. How this wasn’t a major hit in 1990 is baffling because it’s one of the year’s best. Surely, it’s the most undervalued.

When we say “unique”, it really is, especially for the time period in which it came out. It begins right from the opening credits, with the unforgettable image of Bill Murray dressed as clown trying to make his way through the infamous and well-known negative side of New York City and its many rude inhabitants. Without saying a word, the movie whets the appetite of its subversive tactics to set itself apart from other comedies of the year, with a main character who is as off kilter as its star. What follows is the electric first act where Murray is hysterical in his clown make-up deadpanning sarcastic responses to hostages, the police, and eventually the Chief of Police in Rotzinger. It goes without saying that this first act of the bank robbery itself could have been extended to be the entire movie, and it still would have killed on every level. Him just answering the phone asking “Mom?” knowing the angry Rotzinger is on the phone in the heat of the robbery is just a sliver of the gold that they could have continued with had they have gone in the direction of the entire movie being the heist. Every line delivery or slight glance from Grimm as he responds to the people around him knowing he’s in control is a masterclass of a comic performance, with Murray adding one of his last final starring roles in a straight comedy to his filmography that proves he has reached the peak of his profession. The best part about Quick Change is Grimm, though not every critic would agree because it goes against how you are supposed to write a main character. Filmmaker Ron Howard turned down the chance to direct because he read the screenplay ahead of time and came to the conclusion many did in that there isn’t a character to root for. Looking at it from a traditional lens and what we have been told over the years in film, this is technically true. A main character like Grimm or his two cohorts aren’t sympathetic characters that deserve to win out due to some tragic backstory or vulnerability revealed. They aren’t poor either. In fact, they had a great deal on rent and could have continued to live in the never-ending middle-class phase many of us are in.

At one point, Grimm tries to go on a spiel to dissuade Hal Edison from shooting them by talking about how he’s now paying $1,500 for a one-bedroom apartment, but Hal angrily corrects him with “Try $2,600”. Grimm and Phyllis look at each other in shock, and Grimm reveals to the Edison couple they were only paying $1,260 when they were living there, prompting Mrs. Edison to tell them they are crazy for giving up the apartment in that case. It’s a very funny scene that allows for Grimm to go on lying about how the two bought a rustic fixer-upper in Woodstock they “had to try” that is only $300 a month, but it’s a telling scene when the details are heard. Again, they could have continued living in NYC. They weren’t poor or homeless or something. However, they were that done with the city, its awful people, and how difficult it is to be happy in it that they were willing to go to desperate lengths to escape it. Phyllis and Grimm do recall the moment they decided on robbing the bank when the heat went out on presumably a winter night at their apartment, but it’s not un-livable. It was just the tipping point. Once they get the money however, they just see all the happenings they run into as reminders of how much they hate New York like someone getting a haircut on the bus to the airport, resulting in Grimm commenting “You’re gonna even that out, aren’t you?”. It’s not enough to see these characters as the “traditional” bank robbery trio that we can still get behind as an audience for a comedy, but that’s the genius of Quick Change. It doesn’t want anything more than that because Murray and co-director Howard Franklin don’t want you to feel bad on an emotional level for the trio. They want to go all-in on the sarcastic, genius, Bugs Bunny-like star persona of Murray that he seemingly perfects in this movie and milks it for all its worth, with the other two being likable because of their close relationship to this charismatic, hilarious, confident, cool, and wildly intelligent main character who can think on his feet from a comedic standpoint and as a strategist, much like a Groucho Marx type of character in the old Marx Brothers movies.

Murray takes these quick wits of Groucho and copies his ability to react comfortably and confidently in any situation to the real people around him, even if it could put him in danger if he handles something incorrectly. Grimm reacts with such sharp wit and confidence that it’s like he wants to see how far he can go before he gets shot or something. It’s invigorating to watch, and it’s probably why the character is so likable, despite not doing anything in particular to come off as heroic or anything. He knows he’s lucky too. When the bus pulls up coincidentally after the mafia scene, he acknowledges it and is quick enough to react when he needs to (“This is lucky. Let’s make this”). For the genre, it’s a rarely seen main character that relies solely on the likability of the star for it all to work. That’s a majority of it. Without a doubt, the reason to like the character is that it’s Bill Murray at his finest. Ron Howard probably couldn’t see this fact by just reading the screenplay from an objective standpoint, but that’s why the movie works. Murray pushes the boundaries of what a main character in a comedy is by being the captain of a bank heist and trying to escape with his girlfriend and best friend, and we cheer him on simply because of how cool and downright hilarious Grimm is. Very few comedic performers could pull off a non-traditional protagonist like this in a mainstream comedy without it turning into a black comedy, but he’s one of them. Other than that, Chevy Chase, Steve Martin, or Eddie Murphy might be the only ones who could do it. Billy Crystal does come to mind too, but all of his characters tend to show some sort of kind heart eventually to win over the viewer. On the other side of it, Murray and Chase specifically always see how far they can go before the protagonist reveals somewhat of a good soul. It’s not that Grimm isn’t a nice guy per say, it’s just that he doesn’t have a specific moment that makes him the guy to root for. It’s just not why we like him. He just hates life at this stage, and well, we can relate to that.

When you think about it, Grimm really does put all these innocent people in danger with his bank robbery stunt. He’s using a real gun, and he’s causing a lot of distress with the fake bomb strapped to his chest. Nevertheless, the viewer can’t stop laughing at his exploits like open firing on a camera and continuously missing and commenting, “Damn…give me a break”, as if he‘s the one having a bad day. There’s another moment early on when he’s asked what the hell kind of clown he is for what he’s doing, and he responds in the most straight-faced, Bill Murray way possible where he knows it’s funny, but he doesn’t sell it with, “The crying-on-the-inside kind, I guess”. It’s this cool and calmness under fire that he displays throughout that just wins us over in a way it shouldn’t, like when the three miss the exit and they attempt to ask someone where to go. In the most random moment of the movie, two Hispanic guys on bicycles joust each other in front of a church and the main characters just sit in the car in shock as to what they just witnessed. Right away, Loomis panics and thinks it’s just bad luck seeing a thing like that and Phyllis piles on with how things are going to Hell. Ever the optimist and clear leader of the group, Grimm continues with his cool demeanor, even if he might be screaming at the top of his lungs on the inside, telling them both to knock it off (“Just a couple of guys sorting out some things. Now, we’re gonna find a familiar street soon”). Even when he’s held at gunpoint the following scene, he doesn’t lose it because he knows if he loses his cool, they will all unravel, especially because he’s hiding the money under his clothes and it could blow the whole thing open if the random guy finds out. Still, he responds as only Grimm would. Now to his credit, knowing New York as well as he does and not trusting anyone in this city, his instincts are sharp enough to see how this random guy they run into is too nice in helping them out. This is the one time Phyllis and Loomis convince Grimm to relent and trust the guy because he’s probably just from out of town, noting the Iowa plates. Proving why he’s the leader of this thing, Grimm is right again. After messing with Phyllis by asking where the Clutter family was from and her responding Kansas, Grimm slyly comments “Just checking. Say, the bank was really beautiful, wasn’t it?”.

It’s just a teaser for her, as if to say “I told you so” before his cynicism is proven right.

When Grimm checks the map with the “Iowa” guy, he references the plates, but the guy plainly responds that it’s a stolen car and he walks Grimm back over with his gun. With the idea in mind that he still can’t lose his cool on account of the already fragile Phyllis and Loomis, Grimm just calmly jokes to the two, “He doesn’t even know the capital of Iowa”. It’s pure gold, and a great way to put his genius on display in letting the guy take the $4 from his wallet and their suitcases from the car because it looks like it’s all they have. In an amusing finish, Grimm rolls with his sarcasm in a moment of low-key triumph by yelling at the guy fleeing the scene, “Oh sir! You forgot your map and our million dollars!”. Then, he just moves right back into business to lead his team with his cynical-about-the-city but positive attitude like it was all meant to be. He just changes the subject right after when Loomis questions if the capital of Iowa was Dubuque, but he deadpans back that it was Des Moines.

Part of it is the leadership qualities he has that makes Loomis practically fawn over him in a father/son like relationship as well as worries Phyllis because Grimm is that good at being a liar, a cheat, and a swindler. Phyllis just thought all of this was for the one big payoff but Grimm continuing to dip his toes into the water of danger and succeeding is what freaks her out. He’s just that damn good, he has contingency plans that she wasn’t even aware about, and he starts to revel in the risks he’s taking just to see if it might pay off, with the best example being the hysterical sequence of Grimm accidentally leading them into a mafia hideout for Mr. Skelton (Victor Argo) and his underling Johnny (Tucci) to try and hide from the cops. It’s yet another fantastically done scene to show the cartoon intellect of Grimm. He reads the situation almost immediately and with his pause after Johnny puts a gun in his back, he thinks of a plan on the spot, spouting off about how they’re there for the money and he accuses these mob guys of playing games with him. In a moment of realism to let the viewer in on Grimm’s personality, even Phyllis asks what the hell he’s doing, and he flat-out tells her “I have no idea”. The way this character thinks is so compelling, especially for a 90-minute comedy that works at such a madcap pace. The dialogue in this scene makes it all work, with Grimm listening and carefully responding at an expert level while staying in character for them as a tough guy, becoming a brand-new bagman for the unknown mob boss Lombino due to Skelton and Johnny’s responses to him. With unwavering confidence and the ability to think on his feet that would rival the aforementioned Groucho Marx, Grimm goes with it and doubles down because he’s too far in to back out. He tells anecdotes that have enough details but are still vague enough to tell a good story for the mob guys to believe without having to delve deeper, like responding to the question of the whereabouts of the old bagman in Mario with how “Somebody dared him, so he threw Earl here out of a moving car”, referring to the injured Loomis who jumped out of a taxi minutes before that.

By luck, the same thing happened to Johnny, and they start to believe Grimm as the man he says he is. It’s beautiful. The follow-up of Skelton saying it’s cool, but he’s going to call Lombino to check him out and Grimm and Phyllis look at each other, with Murray doing the laugh-out-loud straight-faced expression that he’s absolutely fucked is Shakespearean from a comedic standpoint. They almost screw it all up until Grimm is able to remember Johnny’s issues with Mario, so he preys on Johnny’s fears by bringing this up again and hopes and prays Johnny takes the next stop to stop Skelton from calling Lombino, which he does. By the end of the scene, not only does he get $6,000 extra, but the gangsters kiss his hand for being associated with the king that is Lombino. Again, it’s pure hilarity, but the insight on who the characters are evolving into is what adds to the overall intrigue. This is where we see Phyllis’s love for Grimm getting them out of there due to his leadership qualities and confidence that has gotten all three of them this far in life. On the other hand, Grimm’s response again is what catches the eye. Once Loomis excitedly puts things in perspective by telling Grimm how he miraculously ripped off the mob, Grimm can’t help but smile. He loves this stuff. He’s getting a sense of exhilaration in finding himself in these situations and seeing if he can get out of it through sheer confidence, humor, and street smarts. It’s only magnified when Loomis points out, “You were born for this! It must be in your genes!”. Grimm loves the adulation and excitement from it all because he can’t stop winning. Just like he said before, he really does feel complete as a person. Yet, Phyllis doesn’t like Loomis playing to Grimm’s ego, as it’s almost encouraging Grimm’s risk-taking and criminal exploits. She is grounded post-robbery, but Grimm has lost the plot on the road to the airport because of his knack for getting into these situations and pushing the envelope like only a cartoon character would. At one point, Phyllis starts to freak out after learning about all of Grimm’s backup plans in case something were to screw up and she’s shocked at his expertise and calls him out for thinking all of this is a fun night on the town and he just responds, “No, I think it’s a lot more exciting than that”.

Though the excitement around the bank robbery did rile up Phyllis previously according to Grimm (we couldn’t even discuss this plan unless there was a bedroom pretty close by”), Grimm not coming down from this high now that they secured the money is what is concerning Phyllis. She can sense the problem earlier than the audience, as we are quick to just roll with it being the loving comedic musings of Murray. However, Phyllis is bringing the realism to the character and points out his flaws that we would have otherwise ignored like her still being bothered about his comment about being “complete” and asking Loomis if Grimm seems different to him. Loomis points out how just yesterday Grimm was “just a guy working in the department of city planning and today, he’s a world class bank robber”, and Phyllis becomes angry over it as she wanted to hear reassuring words rather than what she fears most about who Grimm has become in such a short time. Still, she is right about Grimm. As gloriously entertaining as he is, we’re not sure if he will ever have that moment where he changes. In previous reviews, I have mentioned Quentin Tarantino’s point about how Murray roles and Chevy Chase roles differ in that Murray’s roles start out as the sarcastic dick, but he finds redemption in some way. On the other side of the coin, Chase’s roles tend to start and end with him being a sarcastic dick. It’s something I always come back to when looking at their respective films. With Quick Change, Murray does have the moment where he tries to press on with his jokey approach. Phyllis is worried Grimm can never move on from being this person who has started to resemble James Cagney, so he makes all these prison jokes to try and scare her to come with, chalking it up as a time constraint. It’s not until Loomis tells him after that Grimm should have just told her that he loved her that it hits him and his moment of realization in that moment makes the character arc click, just when the movie is nearing its close without him acknowledging his own humanity. It’s so well done but has gone unnoticed it seems from critics at the time.

It gets there, but it does admittedly take a while for the viewer to see the whole picture. Be patient.

Regardless of this, if Grimm did work in the department of city planning, it does beg the question why he struggles so much in knowing how to get the crew out of New York and back to the BQE expressway, though it was funny seeing them deal with that construction crew (“I want to thank you guys. You’ve could’ve given us help, but you’ve given us so much more”).

Bill Murray’s role as Grimm is almost the beginning of the end in a meta sort of way too. With Groundhog Day three years later being the real beginning if we ignore The Razor’s Edge for a moment, the protagonist of Grimm serves in hindsight as an allegory for Murray’s career and interests starting to transition into dramatic territory. Now, Quick Change itself isn’t the shift, but the character of Grimm is. With his constant remarking of his contempt for New York City (“God, I hate this town”) and wanting to move on, it’s almost like Bill Murray himself is wanting to move on from those Saturday Night Live days in NYC that made him a globally recognized star. He’s over it, and Murray/Grimm is like the last hurrah, utilizing the very last of his comedic juices to retire from this chaotic persona for good. It’s quite poetic from this standpoint. Again, Groundhog Day is still an all-time comedy, but it’s noted black humor and depth inserted within, and Murray himself pushing for darker elements to be put into the narrative, shows that the shift happened right after Quick Change, the last of THAT version of Murray. Beginning with What About Bob?, the OTHER Murray started to flesh out, and that’s probably what startled the unexpected Harold Ramis during the production of Groundhog Day, expecting a much less jaded and cynical Murray that was practically the real Murray as Grimm in Quick Change.

The only drawback of Quick Change is Randy Quaid. Loomis is written as the goofy third character that causes this whole thing to go haywire by honking the horn like a dumbass, and he has to be this doofus character for the movie’s second half to work in the manner it does, but could the performance be more outrageously annoying? To be fair, I never found Quaid funny in a larger capacity. He can work in spot supporting roles, but he always becomes too much at some point. In Quick Change, he does so to the extreme to where his moments of panic are so agitating, you question why Grimm is even friends with Loomis. Even if the taxi driver was pissing the three off because he had no idea where to take him since he doesn’t speak English, Loomis’s response in just freaking out and jumping out of a moving car was too obnoxiously stupid to buy into, especially considering the timed schedule they are on. Loomis injuring his leg and not being able to muster up the strength to just fake it for a little bit until they can get on the bus safely brought upon the boiling of the blood like no other moment in this movie. Literally, this could have been a near perfect comedy had he not been involved. It’s hard to say if the character even showed his worth to this team or the movie at any point in the story. From his terrible driving in all the car scenes to Grimm having to adjust the plan to the very end because of Loomis’s constant freak-out potential, you just wish he’d shut the fuck up.

Loomis: “Did we get the cab?”

Grimm: “No.”

Loomis: “Are u gonna hit me now?”

Grimm: “No, but if your leg is broken, we’ll have to destroy you”.

The amount I would have paid to see that is astronomical. He’s one of the very few characters where when he says to himself, “It’s all my fault”, it truly, 100% is.

The strength of the supporting cast is what keeps the entertainment value high. Kurtwood Smith shines in a small but pivotal role in the third act, and Bob Elliott gets increasingly funny as the movie progresses with his lies to the police about what happened (“Then I said, ‘It’s all over Chuckles, and wrestled him to the floor, but he got some gal in his sights, so I had to let up. That’s when he cold cocked me. Son of a bitch”). Jason Robards does an excellent job too, as the amusing and equally cynical Chief of Police who has his own problems with the city but is determined to capture the bank robbers. He’s written particularly well and does come off as someone with a lot of experience. His held-in contempt for the agitating personalities he deals with is great fun on the other side, as well as how he deals with the increasing pressure to come through on finding Grimm and company before they escape New York. The many hurdles he has to face in doing his job are surprisingly entertaining enough to keep things going outside of the trio of stars, with arguably the best exchange out of the film coming from Princeton thanking him for getting them out of the bank but also letting him know that the shareholders will kill him in the press because someone has to be blamed. He just rolls his eyes like, “Of course. Classic NYC”. It’s brilliant work all around. It’s not that he’s retiring tomorrow, but he does have a respectable reputation that is in jeopardy, with Jameson putting everything into perspective on accident in the conversation right after. He tries to quell Rotzinger’s concerns by sarcastically asking what is so memorable about a clown stealing $1,000,000, prompting an annoyed look from Rotzinger. The timing of Jameson’s realization was a chef’s kiss (“Jesus, we gotta get this guy”).

The number of inspired comic sequences are constant such as Rotzinger’s interrogation of a confused Mario and the cab driver freaking out, the dealings with the tightly wound bus driver that almost breaks Grimm (“You better get some help!”), the old lady singing about flowers for the dead on the spooky street corner as they walk, and the chaotic, suspenseful, and laugh-out-loud sequence of Grimm trying to get exact change for the bus driver at the convenience store to make it back before he’s seen by all the swarming cops. Watching him try to “Pink Panther” his way in and out and back to the bus where he starts to show the worry on his face is arguably the best scene in a movie FILLED to the brim with them.

Quick Change is a phenomenal off-the-wall comedy with a great twist on the genre, an excellent supporting cast that keeps things interesting, and star, producer, and co-director Bill Murray shining as bright as he’s ever been on the screen. This is a movie that needs to be talked about way more often that it is.

Fun Fact: Jonathan Demme (The Silence of the Lambs, Philadelphia, The Manchurian Candidate remake) was chosen to direct at first, but he ended up becoming unavailable. Ron Howard was offered the job, but he turned it down after reading the script because he didn’t see a character to root for.