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We had Groundhog Day this week, a holiday that is now as associated with Bill Murray living the same day over and over as it is with, you know, the actual stuff that happened on Groundhog Day. That dude seeing (or not seeing) his shadow can’t hold a candle to everybody talking about Murray and Ned Ryerson and all that good stuff. Groundhog Day is considered one of Murray’s best movies, but that got me thinking. What is the most-overlooked, underrated movie in Murray’s filmography? I decided to investigate.
Well, to be honest, before I even got to looking at his filmography I knew what the answer is. The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou is my second-favorite movie ever, and it’s definitely not top of mind when it comes to Murray movies. That’s my favorite Murray film full stop, so I can’t really top that, and there’s no reason to pretend I really need to ponder things. That being said, there are some other Murray films that should get more love in my opinion. Ed Wood isn’t really a “Murray film,” but it’s a movie that he’s in, and it’s my second-favorite Burton film I think. He’s great in Kingpin as Big Ern, but he overshadows an otherwise mediocre movie. Ghostbusters II is also probably underrated inasmuch as it’s pretty good but a lot of people treat it like it’s a total dud.
On the flipside, there are certainly Murray movies I find to be overrated. Caddyshack has some funny stuff, but it’s a sweaty movie. Stripes has never been watched in its entirety. I steadfastly believe everybody watching it loses steam with about a half hour left. Oh, and Murray is one of only two good things about Space Jam, the other being Wayne Knight. Still, if you want a Murray movie to watch you maybe haven’t seen, definitely go with The Life Aquatic.
