Take 4: A Flurry of Murray

This whole review started, I think, with Caddyshack being placed in my rental list. I figured what better opportunity to catch several other Bill Murray films than to do a review focused on his movies. Now, I don't claim that these are his best ones...I just set out to review one's that I hadn't seen before. Otherwise, you can be sure that Groundhog's Day and Ghostbusters would have been present. Enjoy!

Related Reading - Take 4: Cusack Quartet

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Caddyshack (1980)

In a Nutshell: Welcome to the exclusive Bushwood Country Club, where young caddy Danny Noonan is trying to convince club member Judge Smails to award him a prestigious scholarship, thus ensuring he can enter college. One problem...Smails is a pretentious ass. Luckily, Danny also meets Ty Webb, a Zen Buddhist golfer, and Al Czervik, a real estate developer who is a couple sandwiches short of a picnic...two golfers who may help point Danny to an alternate solution to his problems.

Starring Bill Muray As...: Karl Spackler, assistant groundskeeper at Bushwood. He's been tasked with destroying the rogue gopher that is tearing up the greens and landscaping of the golf course. And he's got plenty of heavy explosives to do so. The perks of being a war veteran.

Other Familiar Faces: We've got three other big names in this one: Chevy Chase, Rodney Dangerfield and Ted Knight. Plus, it was directed by Harold Ramis. Some pretty major powerhouses here.

Random Trivia: The scene that begins when Ty Webb's golf ball crashes into Carl Spackler's ramshackle house was not in the original script. It was added by Harold Ramis after realizing his two biggest stars, Chevy Chase and Bill Murray, did not have a scene together. The three met for lunch and wrote the scene together. Although the scene has nothing to do with the plot, it is widely regarded as the funniest in the movie. This is the only time that Chase and Murray have appeared in a movie together.

And I Quote...: Karl: "So I jump ship in Hong Kong and make my way over to Tibet, and I get on as a looper at a course over in the Himalayas. A looper, you know, a caddy, a looper, a jock. So, I tell them I'm a pro jock, and who do you think they give me? The Dalai Lama, himself. Twelfth son of the Lama. The flowing robes, the grace, bald... striking. So, I'm on the first tee with him. I give him the driver. He hauls off and whacks one - big hitter, the Lama - long, into a ten-thousand foot crevasse, right at the base of this glacier. Do you know what the Lama says? Gunga galunga... gunga, gunga-galunga. So we finish the eighteenth and he's gonna stiff me. And I say, "Hey, Lama, hey, how about a little something, you know, for the effort, you know." And he says, "Oh, uh, there won't be any money, but when you die, on your deathbed, you will receive total consciousness." So I got that goin' for me, which is nice."

Curt's Take: Must See - I have to be honest here...I didn't find it THAT funny. It's pretty dated, and it didn't really stand the test of time (in my opinion) like other older movies have. That having been said, I think that comedies, more than any other genre, rely on currency and topicality for success...and they have an uphill battle still being relevant decades down the road. So...it gets a bit of a break on that one. Another point in its favor...it's really a classic. Everyone who is a fan of comedies consistently expresses surprise that I've never seen this...and rank it right up there with Stripes and Animal House as part of the "Triumverate of Classic Comedies." Finally, it's got a great cast...and while the story of Caddyshack was created to focus on the lives of the caddies of Bushwood, the originally peripheral characters of the golfers ended up taking center stage when Chase, Dangerfield and Knight got cast. In short...if you haven't seen it, you should...at the very least to check it off your pop culture "to do" list.

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Lost in Translation (2003)

In a Nutshell: Bob Harris, a fading movie star, is visiting Tokyo for a week to shoot a series of local commericals. Newlywed Charlotte is visiting Tokyo with her husband, a photographer, who is out of town for a week on an extended assignment. Neither Bob nor Charlotte are really enjoying themslves...and want nothing more than to leave Tokyo. One night their paths cross, and with the help of the city, they slowly begin to discover and learn more about themselves and each other.

Starring Bill Murray As...: The aforementioned Bob Harris. He's a semi-retired movie star that hasn't really had any big hits in a while, but is taking $2 million to come to Japan and appear in a series of whiskey advertisements. He doesn't really speak any Japanese, and is slowly becoming more disconnected from his wife and kids back in the States. Likeable guy, but a little sad.

Other Familiar Faces: While there are small parts filled in by Giovanni Ribisi and Anna Faris, the big star (other than Murray) is Scarlett Johansson, who plays Charlotte. She's feeling a bit neglected in her marriage and can't bear the thought of being in Tokyo much longer...until she crosses path with Murray.

Random Trivia: Sofia Coppola wrote the lead role specifically for Bill Murray, and later said that if Murray turned it down, she wouldn't have done the movie. She also wasn't sure if Murray was actually going to show up for the film, going by only, according to Coppola, a verbal confirmation. It was on the first day of filming that he showed up.

And I Quote...: Bob: "I was feeling tight in the shoulders and neck, so I called down and had a Shiatsu massage in my room..." Charlotte: "Mmh, that's nice!" Bob: "And the tightness has completely disappeared and been replaced by unbelievable pain."

Curt's Take: Must See - To say there are two main characters (Bob and Charlotte) is a bit off, I think. The city of Tokyo is pretty much a character in itself, providing a necessary backdrop to the story. What you have here are two Americans discovering a new culture together and reflecting on their own situations, and I don't think the film could have taken place anywhere else. Tokyo, at the same time both foreign and familiar, gets Bob and Charlotte to look at recognizable things in a new light...including their own lives. So while there isn't much of a plot here, it's a very engaging and heart-warming story of exploration and personal connection. Definitely check this out. And take a look at the behind-the-scenes feature included on the DVD...it contains about half an hour of footage during the creation of the film, including the kick-off party, on location at shoots, wardrobe, etc. Very interesting.

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The Lost City (2005)

In a Nutshell: The Fellove family of Havana, Cuba is living under President Batista's regime in the late 1950's, but as civil unrest grows, different factions in the city plot the ruler's overthrow. The film documents how these chaotic times disrupt the lives of the Fellove's, focusing on the story of one of the sons, Fico, who owns and manages a nightclub in Havana.

Starring Bill Murray As...: "The Writer." He isn't identified by a name in the film, but he plays an American friend of Fico's, who swings by every now and then to help him write or cast various acts for the nightclub. Kind of a smart-ass, but a good friend. And he's not nearly as central a character here as he is in the other films of Murray's that I've reviewed here.

Other Familiar Faces: With Bill Murray in more of a supporting role, most of the action revolves around Andy Garcia. Not only does he play the lead role in the film, but he also directed and produced it. There are also brief appearances by Dustin Hoffman and Elizabeth Pena, but for the most part, I hadn't heard of any of the rest of the cast.

Random Trivia: Andy Garcia had spent a lot of time and effort on this film, spending sixteen years trying to get it made. His first draft of the script was 306 pages, but it later got trimmed down to 120. In the end, it took 35 days to shoot.

And I Quote...: The Writer: "I have a solution." [Places a Statue of Liberty figurine on the table] "This pretty lady's torch is Aladdin's Lamp...Aladdin's Lamp. And it will grant any wish in your life."

Curt's Take: Worth Considering - I'm normally not a huge fan of dramas, especially ones that are sent against historical/political backdrops, but I was sucked into this film. I'm not that familiar with Cuban history and culture, but once I got a handle on who the characters were, their relationships, and their motivations...the film became very compelling. From the fall of Batista, to the rise of Castro...you got to see how all this turmoil impacted one particular family in Havana. You can tell that the actors, especially Garcia, had a huge passion for the story being told, and that made the movie that much easier to enjoy. That having been said, it isn't a topic that will interest everyone, and the movie is pretty long (over two hours)...so it's definitely not for everyone.

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The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004)

In a Nutshell: Oceanographer and filmmaker Steve Zissou searches the open seas for a rare species of shark that killed one of his close friends during an aquatic expedition. He and his misfit boatload of crew members and unpaid interns face everything from funding trouble to pirates as they scour the ocean for their quarry.

Starring Bill Murray As...: Steve Zissou. Not sure how to describe him...not the brightest bulb on the tree, but fiercely loyal to his crew. Kind of a poor man's Jacques Cousteau.

Other Familiar Faces: Some other pretty big names in here, including Owen Wilson (potentially, his long-lost son), Anjelica Huston (his wife), Cate Blanchett (a pregnant British newspaper reporter, Willem Dafoe (a German crewman on Zissou's boat), and Jeff Goldblum (a wealthy competitor).

Random Trivia: The film is actually dedicated to Jacques Cousteau, and there are many homages to him within the film. For example, Zissou's ship "The Belafonte," is a sly reference to Cousteau's ship, "The Calypso, for singer Harry Belafonte was renowned for singing Calypso music.

And I Quote...: Steve Zissou: "Don't put that gun at him. He's an unpaid intern."

Curt's Take: Don't Bother - I had heard bad things coming into this...but I also like offbeat films, like The Royal Tenenbaums, which Wes Anderson (the director) also worked on. So, as I sat through the first five minutes or so, I was really enjoying this. It had a comedic documentary feel, like Spinal Tap or Incident at Loch Ness (one of my favorite films that I reviewed back in 2005). However, that mockumentary approach was quickly dropped in exchange for what was pretty much an awkwardly shot film...a mistake in my mind. It would have worked much better if it had been shot in a consistent style (in my opinion, shot entirely as a documentary). Also, I just didn't find it that funny. I chuckled at a couple parts, but overall, I just wasn't a fan of the writing. I really had wanted to enjoy it and be laughing a lot more than I was when the movie ended. In short, you can probably skip this one.