It needs no explanation that Bill Murray is one of the greatest comic forces working in Hollywood today. Ever since his early days on SNL, Murray has established himself as a captivating and idiosyncratic actor who is likely to bring an extra spark to any film he works on. He has played some of the most memorable characters throughout comedy to date, like Caddyshack's Carl Spackler, Ghostbusters' Peter Venkman, and Groundhog Day's Phil Connors - to name a few. Murray is also more than capable of skirting the lead for equally hilarious supporting roles, such as, for example, his very self in 2009's Zombieland.
Meanwhile, despite his comedic gift, Murray has also proved himself as a talented actor outside of comedy over the years. Ever since Murray began collaborating with Wes Anderson in the late nineties, the actor has shown himself to be capable of a variety of different complex roles and genres. Here are some of what we believe to be Murray's best non-comedic - even if they fall within "comedy" movies - roles, ranked.
6
Get Low (2009)
This quirky period piece follows a Tennessee hermit, played by an invigorating late-career Robert Duvall, who decides to throw himself a funeral party while he is still alive. Murray plays Frank Quinn, owner of the financially troubled funeral parlor, who agrees to help Duvall orchestrate the entire thing, as Quinn is the only one in town not skeptical of Duvall's wishes. He completely embraces the oddity of the situation, and the result is a performance that seems effortless and natural, despite Murray's newness to the genre. Of Murray’s performance, Roger Ebert wrote “After you get to a certain point with an actor, you don’t much care what he does; you just want to watch him doing it.” There couldn't be a better actor than Murray to prove his point.
5 Rushmore (1998)
Bill Murray and Wes Anderson’s first collaboration is arguably one of their finest, if you have a taste for coming-of-age films. In Anderson's second feature Rushmore, which follows Jason Schwartzman as a love-struck prep-school student, Murray is the young man's simultaneous mentor and sole competitor - they are both "in love" with the same woman. Through his character Herman Blume, Murray acts as the vessel that brings a certain level of melancholy to any Wes Anderson picture. He is depressed, soft-spoken, hates his children, and definitely misses the quality in Max that he can no longer find in himself. However, this does not prevent Murray from being massively entertaining throughout the film, with all of his unique physical and verbal quirks. In such a movie, where a young, smarmy Schwartzman steals the show, Murray leaves us with another equally memorable and quotable character.
4 The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou (2004)
Another unbelievably successful collaboration between Murray and Wes Anderson; this time we see Murray as the beanie-wearing oceanographer on a mission to avenge his friend. This might sound like a frivolous premise - especially considering the creature Murray wishes to smite is a shark - but The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou is a serious and massively underrated film. Murray's character, the eponymous Steve Zissou, is a sarcastic and selfish, yet natural-born leader who only grows more reflective as time and the voyage goes by. Murray explores the many layers of his intense character while still being able to find an infinite number of things to bring the audience joy.
3
St. Vincent (2014)
St. Vincent may be a heartwarming, and, at times, sidesplittingly funny movie, but Murray's role in it ventures pretty far from the territory of his past. In the film, he plays a misanthropic, alcoholic veteran who lives alone with his cat; Vincent's main hobbies include frequenting dive bars, the racetrack, and, occasionally, the strip club. When a single woman and her son move in next door, Vincent strikes up an unlikely friendship with the boy, mentoring him through a tough time at his Catholic school. St. Vincent doesn't try to pass too many judgments on Murray's character, instead presenting him as flawed yet human. This differs greatly from films like Scrooged and Groundhog Day, where Murray's jerkiness is beyond belief. St. Vincent shows that Murray can play a jerk who is human at heart as much as a jerk who is a jerk at heart.
2 Broken Flowers (2005)
Murray fits perfectly into this haunting, understated drama from indie legend Jim Jarmusch. Broken Flowers sees Murray as Don Johnston, a retired businessman who, one day, receives a letter informing him that he has a son. While traveling across the country in search of him, Johnston undergoes an array of bizarre, awkward encounters with former lovers, who only appear to deepen the mystery. Broken Flowers is no surprising picture from Jarmusch, but it certainly is for Murray; his character is brittle, cynical, and sometimes rather hopeless-seeming, but there is also a deep sense of yearning to Johnston. Murray plays up the complex character with the appropriate levels of charm and earnestness that makes Jarmusch's feature such an inimitable film. Broken Flowers won the Grand Prix at Cannes and was nominated for the Palme d'Or.
1 Lost in Translation (2003)
There is no greater master of loneliness and ennui than Sofia Coppola. Her 2003 masterpiece Lost in Translation follows two people, an aging actor, and a newly-married photographer's wife, who form an unlikely friendship while in Tokyo. Murray and cast mate Scarlett Johansson complement each other exceptionally throughout the film, steering it away from romance and towards a meditative study on loneliness and friendship. This is the film that truly solidified Murray's status as a serious actor, as his performance earned him an Oscar nomination and wins at the BAFTA and Golden Globe Awards. Whereas almost all of Murray’s other performances have a certain level of comedy or quirkiness to them, his performance in Lost in Translation feels the most deeply human and vulnerable. Sofia Coppola's film will easily stand the test of time.