Beloved American actor Bill Murray has attracted many fans during his 50-year career for a wide variety of reasons.
There are those who discovered the alternative comedian in the 1970s as one of the cast members of The National Lampoon Radio Hour and, more famously, TV’s Saturday Night Live.
Others fell in love with his rebellious personality and deadpan one-liners as he rose to Hollywood superstardom on the back of commercial hits like Caddyshack (1980), Ghostbusters (1986) and Groundhog Day (1993).
But more and more over the years, the 71-year-old has cultivated an army of admirers for his idiosyncratic roles in a slew of indie comedies and dramas including Lost In Translation (2003) and The French Dispatch (2021).
Murray says he has directors like Wes Anderson, Sofia Coppola and Jim Jarmusch to thank for his arthouse renaissance.
“They’ve sort of validated my career in a way, the fact that these great directors keep calling me up every once in a while,” he tells reporter . “I mean, if you did nine movies with Wes Anderson… people will call that a career.”
It’s never a dull moment when Murray is in front of the camera. See the iconic American comedian in the 2015 raucous Rock The Kasbah on NITV and the more low-key 2019 dramedy Get Low at SBS On Demand.
Rock The Kasbah
The (mostly) English-language Rock The Kasbah is loosely based on the true story of female singer Setara Hussainzada, whose performances on the Australian Idol-style talent show Afghan Star in 2009 caused controversy in deeply conservative Afghanistan.
At the start of the movie, has-been manager Richie Lanz (Bill Murray) runs his shady operation from a seedy motel in Los Angeles. Somehow, he manages to line up a musical tour of war-torn Afghanistan for his client Ronnie (Zooey Deschanel). But the horrified singer panics upon arrival in Kabul and flees the country with Richie’s wallet and passport, forcing him to fend for himself.
By chance, he encounters Salima Khan (Leem Lubany), a village girl with a heavenly voice. Richie believes destiny has brought the two together and that she represents his ticket back to the big time.
Bill Murray in ‘Rock The Kasbah’. Source: NITV
“Life’s about seeing an open door and walking right through it,” he philosophises early on. “Obviously, some asshole has changed the goddamn locks on me, but there’s still a door there. I can see it! I have always found a way. I always will.”
But to succeed, the fast-talking Richie has to find a way to enter Salima into the hugely popular Afghan Star despite opposition from outraged locals and her furious warlord father. While Rock The Kasbah – directed by Barry Levinson and filmed in Morocco – is essentially a vehicle for Bill Murray to play, well… Bill Murray, he’s not a one-man band thanks to a killer supporting cast.
In what could have been a clichéd role as Merci, the ‘hooker with a heart of gold’, Kate Hudson proves to be a likeable foil to Richie’s balls-to-the-wall bluster. Danny McBride and Scott Caan are funny as deranged arms dealers Nick and Jake, while Bruce Willis nearly steals the show as tough mercenary Bombay Brian, who has ambitions to be a published author.
Murray was drawn to Rock The Kasbah by the cast and also the script. “I liked that it’s not a political or a military story,” he tells . “It’s much more of a human story.”
Rock The Kasbah screens on Thursday, 3 February at 9.30PM on NITV. (If the name sounds familiar, there's also Rock The Casbah, a Moroccan family comedy-drama, .)
Get Low
Murray plays small-town undertaker Frank Quinn in the English-language Get Low, which is helmed by first-time director Aaron Schneider. It’s set in 1930s Tennessee and is also based on a true story.
Frank is a former Chicago car salesman with a drinking problem whose mortuary is going down the toilet because of a lack of customers.
“One thing about Chicago, people know how to die,” he laments to his employee Buddy Robinson (Lucas Black).
When mysterious old hermit Felix Bush (Robert Duvall) appears in Frank’s office with a large wad of money to pay for his funeral, the desperate undertaker is keen to help him and secure a much-needed injection of capital.
Bill Murray in ‘Get Low’. Source: Shangi-La Entertainment
There’s one catch: the hermit – who has built up a sinister reputation among the locals over the past 40 years – wants to hold a wake while he’s still alive and invite everyone in town to attend it.
While Frank and Buddy struggle with the logistics of organising the bizarre event, Felix rekindles a friendship with an old flame, Mattie Darrow (Sissy Spacek). But a terrible secret from his past threatens to derail the big day and, in the process, drive Frank into bankruptcy.
Murray’s performance as the troubled mortician is subtle and nuanced; he’s a million miles away from the manic Richie in Rock The Kasbah. But both are equally enthralling.
And that’s the wonderful thing about this iconoclastic actor. He likes to keep his fans guessing what he’ll do next. Maybe it’ll be a Wes Anderson flick or perhaps it’ll be the latest Ghostbusters reboot.
That’s what makes Bill Murray’s career so endlessly fascinating.
Get Low is available at SBS On Demand.
