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Quick Change

EMAILPRINTWarner Bros.

Quick Change reviews
56
6.3 User Score:

Mixed or average reviews

Based on 17 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

Based on 3 votes
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Movie Info

Genre(s): Comedy  |  Crime

Written by: Jay Cronley (book)
Howard Franklin

Directed by: Howard Franklin
Bill Murray

Release Date:
Theatrical: July 13, 1990
DVD: February 14, 2000

Running Time: 89 minutes, Color

Origin: USA

Summary

RATING: R for language

Starring Bill Murray, Geena Davis, Randy Quaid, Jason Robards, Kurtwood Smith, Stanley Tucci, Tony Shalhoub, and Phil Hartman

Grimm, a frazzled urbanite, disguises himself as a clown and sets out to rob a bank. Swiping a million bucks is a snap compared to getting out of town. Grimm and cohorts commandeer a car, a cab, a bus, a baggage tram and a plane to make what becomes for them a less-than-merry escape. (Warner Bros. Studio)

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Rick Groen

Delightfully inventive, consistently funny, clever but not slick, brisk yet never antic, Quick Change is the perfect cinematic date - a summer film for all seasons, the kind of sharp-edged picture that gives lightweight a good name. [14 Jul 1990, p.C3]

80

Los Angeles Times Sheila Benson

The comedy of Quick Change is city-dweller humor, honed to a fine edge and site-specific to New York because the Big Apple is more or less on its knees, civility-wise. All it needs is a lethally funny comedy like this to give it the coup de grace. [13 Jul 1990, p.1]

80

Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum

Franklin and Murray manages to live up to the demands of a thriller without sacrificing character to frenetic pacing, and the film exudes a kind of sweetness that never threatens to become either sticky or synthetic.

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75

TV Guide Staff (Not Credited)

Quick Change unfolds cleverly, keeping the audience in the dark on the robbery plot throughout the film's opening reel.

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75

San Francisco Chronicle Richard Natale

What's surprising about Quick Change, particularly in light of his more recent mega-budget efforts, is its witty affability. [15 Jul 1990, p.34]

75

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

Quick Change is a funny but not an inspired comedy. It has two directors - Howard Franklin and Bill Murray - and I wonder if that has anything to do with its inability to be more than just efficiently entertaining.

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75

Chicago Tribune Dave Kehr

It's a particularly great pleasure to encounter Quick Change, a wonderfully loose and graceful character comedy. [13 Jul 990, p.C]

70

Variety Staff (Not Credited)

Bill Murray delivers a smart, sardonic and very funny valentine to the rotten Apple in Quick Change. Pic became Murray's directing debut after he and Franklin became too attached to the project to bring anyone else in. Material, based on Jay Cronley's book, is neither ambitious nor particularly memorable, but it's brought off with a sly flair that makes it most enjoyable.

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60

Washington Post Rita Kempley

Behind the lens Murray has an uneven touch (or perhaps his co-director does), and "Quick Change" is given to slow moments and miscalculations. But in front of the camera, he is as wonderfully acerbic as ever, equal parts anger and hurt feelings as he grapples with the rot of the Apple, the roar of subway, the smell of the crowds.

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60

Empire Philip Thomas

Enjoyable nonsense with a superb enemble cast. Pure entertainment.

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58

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

Quick Change starts out fast and loose — it gets the audience primed for a ripsnorting caper comedy. Yet almost nothing that follows is as clever, as surprising, or as casually anarchic as that nifty opening sequence. Murray himself served as codirector, and though he doesn't do anything terribly wrong, the movie lacks comic zest.

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50

USA Today Susan Wloszczyna

Don't look for any belly laughs, but Quick Change will help you put on a happy face. [13 Jul 1990, p. 4D]

50

Boston Globe Jay Carr

As a performer, Murray moves through the film with a lovely doomed aplomb. And his quick verbal wit is almost enough to pull Quick Change off. But as a director, his inexperience costs him. His camera isn't as quick as his tongue. [13 Jul 1990, p.29]

50

Washington Post Desson Howe

As a screenplay -- as a story -- Change is a silly mess. Its direction is also perfunctory, a bland rendition of the usual chain of Hollywood events. But the main reason to watch Change is for Murray, of course. And no matter what formulaic claptrap is around him, he always redeems it with something comic.

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40

Wall Street Journal Julie Salamon

Mr. Murray and his co-director, Howard Franklin, who adapted Jay Cronley's novel for the screen, succeed mainly in illuminating what made them want to direct the material. At least this picture struggles to emit a few gasps of fresh air as it goes down. [19 Jul 1990, p.A8]

30

The New York Times Caryn James

In films like Quick Change, he is bogged down by scripts that don't begin to match his comic imagination. Even though he chose and developed Quick Change himself, Bill Murray deserves better than this clunky, stereotypical comedy.

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0

Rolling Stone Peter Travers

Derivative and blindingly dull, Quick Change is an occasion for a quick nap.

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What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this movie is 6.3 (out of 10) based on 3 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

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