Quick Change

Directed by Howard Franklin and Bill Murray, Quick Change follows a trio of bank robbers (Murray’s Grimm, Geena Davis’ Phyllis, and Randy Quaid’s Loomis) as they attempt to make their way out of New York City before a tenacious cop (Jason Robards’ Rotzinger) catches up with them. It’s an appealing premise that’s employed to agreeable (and periodically hilarious) effect by Franklin and Murray, as the filmmakers, armed with Franklin’s screenplay, deliver a briskly-paced comedy that’s been suffused with several engaging set-pieces and a number of irresistible supporting performances – with, in terms of the latter, the picture benefiting substantially from the efforts of such familiar periphery players as Stanley Tucci, Kurtwood Smith, and Tony Shalhoub. (This is to say nothing of the winning work by stars Murray, Davis, and Quaid.) The movie’s increasingly compelling atmosphere is perpetuated by a ticking-clock narrative that grows more and more absorbing as time progresses, while the entertainingly frenetic third act ensures that the whole thing concludes on an engrossing (and thoroughly satisfying) note – which does, in the final analysis, cement Quick Change‘s place as one of Murray’s more memorable cinematic endeavors.

*** out of ****

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