The Best and Worst of Bill Murray

The "Best and Worst" series profiles the best and worst work of an actor starring in one of the week's new theatrical releases. This week I take a look at the filmography of "The Jungle Book" star Bill Murray.

Film starring Bill Murray that I've seen:
Caddyshack
Ghostbusters
Little Shop of Horrors
Ghostbusters II
Kingpin
Larger Than Life
Space Jam
Rushmore 
Charlie's Angels
Osmosis Jones
The Royal Tennenbaums
Moonrise Kingdom
The Monuments Men
The Grand Budapest Hotel
St. Vincent
Aloha

Best Performance: Caddyshack (1980)
Murray has become one of the most iconic comedians of the past 50 years in large part due to his ability to play zany, manic characters that steal every scene they're in. Caddyshack may not have marked the moment where that persona was born, but it was the project where he perfected it. Despite the fact he was sharing the screen with a who's who of comedy juggernauts (Chevy Chase, Rodney Dangerfield, Ted Knight), Murray managed to run away with the movie as Carl Spackler, a dim-witted greenskeeper at an upscale golf course tasked with stopping a gopher infestation during a major tournament.

Worst Performance: Aloha (2015)
One of the many reasons Murray has become one of the most universally beloved fixtures in Hollywood is due to his remarkable consistency. While most of the biggest comics from his generation have tailed off (Chase, Steve Martin, Dan Aykroyd), Murray has remained a reliable powerhouse in the industry that can inject life into even the most cringe-inducing projects (Larger Than Life, Charlie's Angels). This reputation of perpetual reliability made his god awful turn in Cameron Crowe's Aloha that much more surprising. Like basically every other actor in the film, Murray completely phoned in it as the film's "antagonist" and appeared to be visibly embarrassed to be involved with this project.    

Best Film: Space Jam (1996)
When you consider all of the comedy classics and beloved indie films Murray has starred in over the years, this pick might seem really strange and borderline insane. That being said, I have no shame for my immense love of Space Jam.This movie basically defined my childhood and I highly doubt there will be ever be a point in my life where I don't love this film with every fiber of my being. Even as I've grown older and more cynical in my attitude towards life, this film still manages to put a huge smile on my face every single I watch it.

Worst Film: Aloha (2015)
It's been said countless times before and it'll be said countless more times until the end of time: How in the sweet fuck did a film written and directed by Cameron Crowe (Almost Famous, Jerry Maguire) with an ensemble cast led by Bradley Cooper, Emma Stone, Murray, Rachel McAdams and Alec Baldwin end up being this bad? What should've been a heartwarming and beautiful romantic comedy/drama ended up being a cliched pile of manure full of lifeless characters, terrible acting and a plot that makes little-to-no sense. If this isn't the biggest waste of an abundance of top-end talent in recent cinematic history, I don't know what is. 

Thank you for reading this week's installment of "The Best and Worst of". Next week, I'll take a look at the best and worst work of "The Huntsman: Winter's War" star Jessica Chastain.