Bill Murray came to attention when he joined “Saturday Night Live” Season 2. Initially, Murray started his film career with comedies but, in later years he started doing drama, earning an Academy Award for Best Actor nomination for Lost in Translation (2003). Later, in 2015 he returned to television for HBO’s Olive Kitteridge, for which he won an Emmy as Best Supporting Actor. Murray was cast as a motel manager in the latest Wes Anderson film Asteroid City, but had to drop out of the role due to suffering from COVID-19. Here is the list of the top 5 Bill Murray movies.
5. Stripes (1981)
Directed by Ivan Reitman, Stripes also stars Harold Ramis, John Candy, and Sean Young, among others. In the year following his departure from Saturday Night Live, Bill Murray marked his name in the film industry with this successful army comedy. Though the film doesn’t break new ground, it features the actor at his most comic playing the role of a loser, John Winger, who feels his life has no purpose and joins the army. He is not the ideal army man and his antics drive him crazy. While his other fellow SNL alums couldn’t leave an impression on the film industry, Murray managed to maintain his reputation since Stripes.
4. Ghostbusters (1984)
Ghostbusters, directed by Ivan Reitman is a supernatural comedy film. The film stars Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis, and Sigourney Weaver Ghostbusters was one of the biggest comedy films of 1984. In this film, Murray reunited with Ramis, Reitman, and Aykroyd to create one of the most popular Murray films. Murray, Aykroyd, and Ramis play the role of Columbia parapsychology professors Peter Venkman, Ray Stantz, and Egon Spengler, respectively. They decide to become “Ghostbusters” to wage a high-tech battle with the supernatural for money. Later, the Ghostbusters will have to protect New York from destruction.
3. Groundhog Day (1993)
Directed by Harold Ramis Groundhog Day deals with Phil Connors (Bill Murray), a pompous TV weatherman who finds himself destined to continue the same routine every day over and over again. The film also stars Stephe Tobolowsky, Brain Doyle-Murray, Angela Paton, Marita Geraghty, Rick Overton, Rick Ducommun, and Robin Duke. The film won a BAFTA Award for Best Original Screenplay.
2. Lost in Translation (2003)
Written and directed by Sofia Coppola Lost in Translation revolves around a depressed middle-aged film star Bob Harris (Bill Murray) shooting a commercial in Japan. He meets a young woman named Charlotte (Scarlett Johansson) in his hotel who is equally depressed. The duo embarks on a platonic affair. They discuss their troubled lives while exploring Tokyo. Lost in Translation deals with themes like alienation and disconnection against a backdrop of cultural displacement. The film also stars Giovanni Ribisi and Anna Faris.
1. Rushmore (1999)
In Rushmore directed by Wes Anderson, Murray plays a bored business executive Herman Blume who befriends a 15-year-old teen Max Fischer (Jason Schwartzman) who goes to same school as his sons. Their friendship is strained when Bill Murray falls in love with the same teacher, the teen has a crush on. The film also features Olivia Williams and Brian Cox.
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