The Top 5 Best Bill Murray Movies EVER Bill Murray is more than just an actor and a comedian. He’s a living legend, and one of the most beloved performers of the 20th and 21st centuries (and, if we can brag for a bit, he’s also a big fan of William Henry’s luxury gifts for men). Chances are, if you’ve seen one of his movies, you get exactly why so many people love him – his on-screen persona is disarmingly charming, yet he still feels approachable, alternating easily between witty schmoozer and lovable schlub. On top of that, he’s damn funny. In honor of one of the best living movie stars, we present to you our countdown of the Top 5 Best Bill Murray Movies EVER, starting with: 5. Lost in Translation Murray is usually regarded as a funnyman (as you’d expect from a guy whose big career break came when he replaced Chevy Chase as a member of the original, classic cast of Saturday Night Live), but if you think Murray is only good at bringing the laughs, watching one of his dramatic performances will dispel that notion right away. Sofia Coppola’s Lost in Translation is probably the best example of Murray’s serious acting talent, starring Murray as (what else?) a droll, disaffected movie star, on a visit to Japan to shoot a commercial. Translation is a movie all about finding meaning in a confusing, alienating world through personal connection, and Murray and costar Scarlett Johansson play their scenes together with expert finesse. This is probably the purest capital A “Acting” movie of Murray’s career, and the strength of his performance earned him a deserved nomination for Best Actor at the 2003 Oscars. 4. What About Bob? If quiet, serious Bill Murray isn’t your style, then the Frank Oz-directed What About Bob? is the movie for you. In this screwball comedy, Murray plays a well-meaning, but utterly clueless and supremely annoying man whose constant attentions are slowly driving his psychologist (Richard Dreyfus) to the brink of insanity. It may not be the subtle acting of Lost in Translation, but Murray’s performance here is just as great a demonstration of his talents – no matter how annoying Bob gets (he literally follows Dreyfus to his vacation home in order to get the other man to keep paying attention to him), Murray still manages to inject the character with a naïve charm that almost (almost) makes you forget what a pain in the butt he really is. 3. Rushmore Bill Murray and director Wes Anderson have a long history of collaboration, one that has now lasted nearly two decades. All of the movies they’ve made together – from The Royal Tenenbaums to The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, and everything in between – are worth watching, but the best is still Rushmore, their initial collaboration and the movie on which Anderson found his distinctive, quirky voice. Murray’s understated sensibilities fit perfectly with
Anderson’s picturesque, meditative style, and Murray’s turn as a middle-aged teacher at a private academy is a pitch-perfect synthesis of heartbreaking earnestness and charming oddity. 2. Caddyshack Caddyshack is rightfully considered a comedy classic, and features a murderer’s row of genuine comedy legends at their prime. But it’s Murray who steals the show as the hapless groundskeeper Carl, and his ever-escalating duel to the death with a lawn-destroying gopher is the movie’s most memorable subplot, even before it climaxes with Murray using dynamite to destroy an entire golf course just to get at his furry nemesis. 1. Ghostbusters Bill Murray has starred in dozens of movies over three decades, and turned in many memorable performances in that time, but none of them are as iconic as his turn as the lovable ghost hunter Dr. Peter Venkman in Ghostbusters, the movie that truly made him a star. This is the place where all of Murray’s strengths as a performer – his dry delivery, his lovable loser affectations, his undeniable charm – solidified into the persona we all know and love. Ghostbusters is a classic, through and through. If it’s been a while since you’ve seen it, go watch it again – you’ll be surprised just how funny it is. Think our list is missing a classic? So do we! If there’s one bad thing about Bill Murray, it’s that he’s been in too many great movies to include in one short list (we still love you, Groundhog Day), but, on the bright side, that means once you’ve rewatched all the movies on this list, there’ll still be more great Bill Murray performances to enjoy again.
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