Special Report

The Best Movies Starring Bill Murray

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For millions of Americans stuck at home during the pandemic, every day may be reminiscent of “Groundhog Day,” the 1993 movie starring Bill Murray as a man doomed to live the same day on repeat, and driven to extreme measures to break the monotony.

The real Bill Murray appears to be faring much better than that unfortunate character, at least based on the evidence of the virtual Golden Globe Awards this February, where he donned a psychedelic shirt and sipped a martini on camera. Although Murray received a Golden Globe nomination this year for his supporting role in “On the Rocks,” adding to his six previous Golden Globe nominations (one of which, for “Lost in Translation,” led to a win), he won’t be up for any Oscars this year. (Here are 25 of the Oscars’ most egregious snubs.)

24/7 Tempo has compiled the best movies starring Bill Murray, including two directed by Jim Jarmusch and four directed by Wes Anderson. Murray has appeared in nine of Anderson’s films and plays a role in a tenth, “The French Dispatch,” which was due to be released in 2020 but will now debut at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival in July. He is undeniably one of the SNL cast members with the most successful movie careers.

At the age of 70, this comedic actor with a diverse array of film and TV credits shows no signs of stopping.

Click here for Bill Murray’s best movies. 

Courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox

22. Garfield: The Movie (2004)
> Fellow leads: Breckin Meyer, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Stephen Tobolowsky
> Director: Peter Hewitt
> Domestic box office: $75.37 million

In this movie mashup of mostly live action with a single computer animated character, Murray provides the voice for the animated Garfield, everyone’s favorite lazy cat, whose pastimes include eating lasagna and tormenting his owner, Jon.

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Courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox

21. Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties (2006)
> Fellow leads: Breckin Meyer, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Billy Connolly
> Director: Tim Hill
> Domestic box office: $28.43 million

In this sequel to the first Garfield movie, Murray returns as the mischievous animated cat, this time sneaking aboard a plane to London, where he is fortuitously mistaken for a cat named Prince XII, heir to a castle in the English countryside.

Courtesy of Columbia Pictures

20. The Monuments Men (2014)
> Fellow leads: George Clooney, Matt Damon, Cate Blanchett
> Director: George Clooney
> Domestic box office: $78.03 million

In this work of historical fiction, Murray plays Sergeant Richard Campbell, an architect enlisted by the Allies during WWII to help track down artwork stolen by the Nazis.

Courtesy of Fox-Walden

19. City of Ember (2008)
> Fellow leads: Saoirse Ronan, Toby Jones, David Ryall
> Director: Gil Kenan
> Domestic box office: $7.87 million

In this sci-fi film based on a novel by Jeanne DuPrau, Murray plays Mayor Cole, the corrupt leader of an underground city with a failing infrastructure and dwindling food sources.

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Courtesy of Columbia Pictures

18. Charlie’s Angels (2000)
> Fellow leads: Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore, Lucy Liu
> Director: McG
> Domestic box office: $125.31 million

In this action comedy, Murray takes on the role of John Bosley, Charlie’s assistant, who ends up being captured and needs the Angels to rescue him.

Courtesy of Warner Bros.

17. The Man Who Knew Too Little (1997)
> Fellow leads: Joanne Whalley, Peter Gallagher, Richard Wilson
> Director: Jon Amiel
> Domestic box office: $13.80 million

In this slapstick comedy, Murray plays Wallace Ritchie, an unsuspecting theater game participant who is mistaken for a hitman.

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Courtesy of Columbia Pictures

16. Ghostbusters II (1989)
> Fellow leads: Dan Aykroyd, Sigourney Weaver, Harold Ramis
> Director: Ivan Reitman
> Domestic box office: $112.49 million

In this sequel to the paranormal comedy “Ghostbusters” (see below), Murray returns as one of a team of professional spirit hunters who reunite to rid the world of dark forces.

Courtesy of Columbia Pictures

15. Ghostbusters (1984)
> Fellow leads: Dan Aykroyd, Sigourney Weaver, Harold Ramis
> Director: Ivan Reitman
> Domestic box office: $242.21 million

In “Ghostbusters,” Murray plays Dr. Peter Venkman, a former professor who teams up with a few other out of work parapsychologists to start a ghost trapping business.

Courtesy of United Artists

14. Coffee and Cigarettes (2003)
> Fellow leads: Tom Waits, Roberto Benigni, RZA
> Director: Jim Jarmusch
> Domestic box office: $1.97 million

In a vignette cameo appearance, Bill Murray plays himself as a waiter who converses with two members of Wu Tang Clan, chugging coffee straight from the pot and asking the hip hop artists to keep his identity under wraps.

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Courtesy of Paramount Pictures

13. Scrooged (1988)
> Fellow leads: Karen Allen, John Forsythe, John Glover
> Director: Richard Donner
> Domestic box office: $59.45 million

In this modern comedic take on “A Christmas Carol,” Murray plays Frank Cross, a heartless capitalist who treats the people around him as only means to an end.

Courtesy of Buena Vista Pictures

12. The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004)
> Fellow leads: Owen Wilson, Anjelica Huston, Cate Blanchett
> Director: Wes Anderson
> Domestic box office: $24.01 million

In this comedic revenge story and homage to Jacques Cousteau, Murray plays oceanographer Steve Zissou, who is intent on destroying the shark that ate his diving partner.

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Courtesy of The Weinstein Company

11. St. Vincent (2014)
> Fellow leads: Melissa McCarthy, Naomi Watts, Jaeden Martell
> Director: Theodore Melfi
> Domestic box office: $44.14 million

In this comedy drama, Murray plays misanthrope Vincent MacKenna, whose dubious attempts at babysitting his 11-year-old neighbor develop into an unlikely friendship.

Courtesy of Focus Features

10. Broken Flowers (2005)
> Fellow leads: Jessica Lange, Sharon Stone, Julie Delpy
> Director: Jim Jarmusch
> Domestic box office: $13.75 million

In this French-American film, Murray portrays a rich retiree, Don Johnston, who wants nothing more than to live in peace. However, after receiving a mysterious letter, Don ends up on a quest to find out if he has a long-lost son.

Courtesy of Buena Vista Pictures

9. What About Bob? (1991)
> Fellow leads: Richard Dreyfuss, Julie Hagerty, Charlie Korsmo
> Director: Frank Oz
> Domestic box office: $63.71 million

Murray stars in this comedy as Bob Wiley, a well-intentioned man with extreme phobias who follows his therapist on vacation and proceeds to drive him mad.

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Courtesy of Orion Pictures

8. Caddyshack (1980)
> Fellow leads: Chevy Chase, Rodney Dangerfield, Ted Knight
> Director: Harold Ramis
> Domestic box office: $39.85 million

In one of his earliest big films, Murray plays Carl Spackler, a deranged groundskeeper at a country club who goes to extremes attempting to kill a gopher that has been damaging the golf course.

Courtesy of Columbia Pictures

7. Stripes (1981)
> Fellow leads: John Candy, Harold Ramis, Warren Oates
> Director: Ivan Reitman
> Domestic box office: $85.30 million

Murray stars in this war comedy as John Winger, a former cabbie who enlists in the army, barely graduates from boot camp, and becomes an unlikely hero.

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Courtesy of Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

6. The Jungle Book (2016)
> Fellow leads: Neel Sethi, Ben Kingsley, Idris Elba
> Director: Jon Favreau
> Domestic box office: $364.00 million

In the 2016 animated version of this Rudyard Kipling tale, Murray provides the voice of Baloo, a fun-loving bear who rescues and befriends Mowgli, a human child living in the jungle.

Courtesy of Focus Features

5. Lost in Translation (2003)
> Fellow leads: Scarlett Johansson, Giovanni Ribisi, Anna Faris
> Director: Sofia Coppola
> Domestic box office: $44.59 million

Murray stars in this unconventional romantic comedy as Bob Harris, an American film star confronting his midlife crisis while in Tokyo.

Courtesy of Focus Features

4. Moonrise Kingdom (2012)
> Fellow leads: Jared Gilman, Kara Hayward, Bruce Willis
> Director: Wes Anderson
> Domestic box office: $45.51 million

In this coming of age comedy, Murray plays Walt Bishop, a lawyer and father of an eccentric teenager who runs away with her Boy Scout boyfriend.

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Courtesy of Buena Vista Pictures

3. Rushmore (1998)
> Fellow leads: Jason Schwartzman, Olivia Williams, Seymour Cassel
> Director: Wes Anderson
> Domestic box office: $17.11 million

In Wes Anderson’s first major Hollywood movie, Murray plays Herman Blume, a dour businessman who befriends a struggling private school student and falls for a woman with whom the teen is obsessed.

Courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox

2. Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)
> Fellow leads: George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Jason Schwartzman
> Director: Wes Anderson
> Domestic box office: $21.00 million

In this stop-motion animated comedy, Murray provides the voice for Clive Badger, Mr. Fox’s lawyer and best friend.

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Courtesy of Columbia Pictures

1. Groundhog Day (1993)
> Fellow leads: Andie MacDowell, Chris Elliott, Stephen Tobolowsky
> Director: Harold Ramis
> Domestic box office: $71.10 million

In “Groundhog Day,” Murray plays Phil Connors, an egotistical weatherman who finds himself stuck in a time loop, doomed to repeat the same day every time he wakes, until he can figure out how to break the cycle.

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