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''Quick Change'' is a 1990 American
crime comedy film Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine ...
directed by
Bill Murray William James Murray (born September 21, 1950) is an American actor and comedian. He is known for his deadpan delivery. He rose to fame on ''The National Lampoon Radio Hour'' (1973–1974) before becoming a national presence on ''Saturday Nigh ...
and
Howard Franklin Howard Franklin is an American screenwriter and film director, known for such films as ''The Name of the Rose'' and his three collaborations with Bill Murray: '' Quick Change'', '' Larger than Life'', and ''The Man Who Knew Too Little''. His other ...
(in their directorial debuts) and written by Franklin. Based on the novel of the same name by
Jay Cronley Jay Cronley (November 9, 1943 – February 26, 2017) was an American newspaper columnist for the ''Tulsa World'' and the author of many works of humorous fiction, including ''Fall Guy'', ''Good Vibes'', ''Quick Change'', and ''Funny Farm''. Cronl ...
, the film stars Murray,
Geena Davis Virginia Elizabeth "Geena" Davis (born January 21, 1956) is an American actor
,
Randy Quaid Randy Randall Rudy Quaid (born October 1, 1950) is an American actor known for his roles in both serious drama and light comedy. He was nominated for an Academy Award, BAFTA Award and a Golden Globe Award for his role in ''The Last Detail'' i ...
, and
Jason Robards Jason Nelson Robards Jr. (July 26, 1922 – December 26, 2000) was an American actor. Known as an interpreter of the works of playwright Eugene O'Neill, Robards received two Academy Awards, a Tony Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and the Cannes ...
. ''Quick Change'' follows three people on an elaborate bank robbery and their subsequent escape. Filmed and set in
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
, ''Quick Change'' is the second adaptation of Cronley's novel, after the 1985 Canadian film '' Hold-Up''. It is also the only directorial credit in Murray's career. ''Quick Change'' was theatrically released in the United States on July 13, 1990. Upon release, it was a
box office bomb A box-office bomb, or box-office disaster, is a film that is unprofitable or considered highly unsuccessful during its theatrical run. Although any film for which the production, marketing, and distribution costs combined exceed the revenue after ...
, grossing $15.3 million worldwide against a budget of $17 million, but received positive reviews, with praise for Murray's performance and humor.


Plot

Grimm, dressed as a
clown A clown is a person who performs comedy and arts in a state of open-mindedness using physical comedy, typically while wearing distinct makeup or costuming and reversing folkway-norms. History The most ancient clowns have been found in ...
, robs a bank in
midtown Manhattan Midtown Manhattan is the central portion of the New York City borough of Manhattan and serves as the city's primary central business district. Midtown is home to some of the city's most prominent buildings, including the Empire State Buildin ...
. He sets up an ingenious hostage situation strapping fake dynamite all over his waist and successfully gets away with $1 million and his accomplices: girlfriend Phyllis and best friend Loomis. The heist itself is comparatively straightforward and easy, but the getaway turns into a nightmare. The relatively simple act of getting to the airport to catch a flight out of the country is complicated by the fact that fate, luck, and all of
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
appear to be conspiring against their escape. To begin with, the trio is seeking the
Brooklyn-Queens Expressway Interstate 278 (I-278) is an auxiliary Interstate Highway in New Jersey and New York in the United States. The road runs from US Route 1/9 (US 1/9) in Linden, New Jersey, northeast to the Bruckner Interchange in the New Yor ...
to get to the airport, but the signs were removed during construction work, resulting in the three robbers becoming lost in an unfamiliar neighborhood in Brooklyn. Then, a conman/thief robs the trio of everything they have (except the bank money, which they have taped under their clothes). After changing into new clothes at Phyllis's apartment, they are confronted and nearly gunned down by the paranoid and stressed-out incoming tenant. At the same time, a fire has broken out across the street and the fire department arrives and pushes their car away from a hydrant only to cause it to roll downhill and then down an embankment. When the three crooks eventually manage to flag down a cab, the foreign driver is hopelessly non fluent in English. This causes a hysterical Loomis to jump out of the moving cab to grab another, but he runs into a newsstand, knocking himself unconscious. The driver leaves, thinking he has killed Loomis. An anal-retentive bus driver, a run-in with mobsters, and Phyllis's increasing desperation to tell Grimm the news that she is pregnant with his child add further complications. All the while, Rotzinger, a world-weary but relentless chief of the
New York City Police Department The New York City Police Department (NYPD), officially the City of New York Police Department, established on May 23, 1845, is the primary municipal law enforcement agency within the City of New York, the largest and one of the oldest in ...
, is doggedly attempting to nab the fleeing trio. A meeting on board an airliner at the airport occurs between the robbers and the chief, who gets the added prize of having a major crime boss dropped in his lap with their assistance. Unfortunately the chief only realizes who they were after their plane has taken off.


Cast

*
Bill Murray William James Murray (born September 21, 1950) is an American actor and comedian. He is known for his deadpan delivery. He rose to fame on ''The National Lampoon Radio Hour'' (1973–1974) before becoming a national presence on ''Saturday Nigh ...
as Grimm *
Geena Davis Virginia Elizabeth "Geena" Davis (born January 21, 1956) is an American actor
as Phyllis Potter *
Randy Quaid Randy Randall Rudy Quaid (born October 1, 1950) is an American actor known for his roles in both serious drama and light comedy. He was nominated for an Academy Award, BAFTA Award and a Golden Globe Award for his role in ''The Last Detail'' i ...
as Loomis *
Jason Robards Jason Nelson Robards Jr. (July 26, 1922 – December 26, 2000) was an American actor. Known as an interpreter of the works of playwright Eugene O'Neill, Robards received two Academy Awards, a Tony Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and the Cannes ...
as Chief Walt Rotzinger *
Philip Bosco Philip Michael Bosco (September 26, 1930 – December 3, 2018) was an American actor. He was known for his Tony Award-winning performance as Saunders in the 1989 Broadway production of ''Lend Me a Tenor'', and for his starring role in the 2007 fi ...
as Bus Driver * Bob Elliott as Bank Guard *
Phil Hartman Philip Edward Hartman (; September 24, 1948 – May 28, 1998) was a Canadian-American actor, comedian, screenwriter and graphic designer. Hartman was born in Brantford, Ontario, Canada, and his family moved to the United States w ...
as Mr. Edison *
Tony Shalhoub Anthony Marc Shalhoub ( ; born October 9, 1953), is an American actor. His accolades include five Emmy Awards, a Golden Globe Award, six Screen Actors Guild Awards, a Tony Award, and a Grammy Award nomination. He played Adrian Monk in the USA Net ...
as Cab Driver *
Victor Argo Victor Argo (November 5, 1934 – April 7, 2004) was an American actor of Puerto Rican descent who usually played the part of a tough bad guy in his movies. He had a career span of forty years. He is best known for ''Mean Streets'' (1973), ' ...
as Mike Skelton *
Stanley Tucci Stanley Tucci Jr. ( ; born November 11, 1960) is an American actor and filmmaker. Involved in acting from a young age, he made his film debut in John Huston's ''Prizzi's Honor'' (1985), and continued to play a variety of supporting roles in film ...
as Johnny *
Kathryn Grody Kathryn Janis Grody is an American actress and writer. Early life and education Grody was born in Los Angeles, California. She studied acting at HB Studio in New York City. Career Grody wrote, and acted in, the autobiographical play ''Mom's Lif ...
as Mrs. Edison * Richard Joseph Paul as Lieutenant Dennis Jameson *
Jamey Sheridan James Patrick Sheridan (born July 12, 1951) is an American actor known for playing a wide range of roles in theater, film, and television. He's best known for Randall Flagg in '' The Stand'' (1994), Captain James Deakins on '' Law & Order: Crimin ...
as The Mugger *
Kurtwood Smith Kurtwood Larson Smith (born July 3, 1943) is an American television and film actor. He is known for playing Clarence Boddicker in ''RoboCop'' (1987), Robert Griggs in ''Rambo III'' (1988), and Red Forman in ''That '70s Show'' (1998–2006), as ...
as Vince Lombino / Russ Crane *
Paul Herman Paul Herman (March 29, 1946 – March 29, 2022) was an American actor. He was best known for playing Randy in David O. Russell's dramedy ''Silver Linings Playbook'' (2012) and Whispers DiTullio in Martin Scorsese's crime epic ''The Irishman' ...
as Interrogating Policeman


Reception

On
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
the film has an approval rating of 84% based on 37 reviews, with an average rating of 6.7/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "''Quick Change'' makes the most of its clever premise with a smartly skewed heist comedy that leaves plenty of room for its talented cast to shine." On
Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
it has a weighted average score of 56 out of 100 based on 17 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences surveyed by
CinemaScore CinemaScore is a market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts based on the data. Background Ed Mintz founded Ci ...
gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale. Several critics claim it is one of Murray's finest roles: a jaded man who has had too much of the Big Apple. Also praised were the strong performances by the supporting cast, particularly Robards as the police chief Rotzinger, who, while almost as burned out as Murray, is still determined to capture the robbers as a swan song to his long career.
Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...
, in his July 13, 1990 ''
Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago T ...
'' review, wrote: ''Quick Change'' is a funny but not an inspired comedy. It has two directors... and I wonder if that has anything to do with its inability to be more than just efficiently entertaining."


References


External links

*
Erasing Clouds retrospective article on the film
{{Howard Franklin 1990 films 1990 comedy films 1990 directorial debut films 1990s American films 1990s crime comedy films 1990s English-language films 1990s heist films American crime comedy films American heist films Comedy films about clowns Films about bank robbery Films based on American novels Films directed by Bill Murray Films directed by Howard Franklin Films produced by Robert Greenhut Films scored by Randy Edelman Films set in New York City Films shot in New York City Films with screenplays by Howard Franklin Warner Bros. films