For this week’s theme I decided to watch some Bill Murray films. Naturally I’ve liked hs work since Saturday Night Live. I was weaned on Stripes and Ghostbusters. I think the really big transition from just another comedian turned actor to one of the greats for me was Groundhog’s Day and it was all uphill from there.
So the first on my list was Lost in Translation. One that has been recommended to me just by everyone. It is a story about two people visiting Tokyo and join together to endure it. It’s a slow lyrical movie and briefly I wasn’t sure if my attention span could handle it but it certainly grows on you as it goes along. Murray is great as a fading actor suffering from the beginning of a midlife crisis enduring his week long business trip paradoxically alone in this huge bustling city. I especially liked it as a portrait of Japan in all of it’s extremes from the bustling chaos of downtown Tokyo to the quiet lyricism of traditional customs and temples.
The next film Mad Dog and Glory was one i’d been curious about for years because of how it had two actors playing against type with Murray and Robert De Niro in a film about a mobster who befriends a high strung cop. Whenever I describe this Ito people I like to ask who they think play’s who and it’s always funny to see people’s surprise when I tell them that it’s not what they think.
Seriously though… DeNiro virtually channels Woody Allen playing the overworked nebbish of a detective and Murray is terrifying as the Mobster. It was about as good as I had imagined with Uma Thurman thrown in for good measure as the Woman who comes between them. Very much worth your time.
