Though I like arguing on behalf of underrated performers (Melanie Griffith, for example), sometimes it's more fun to commemorate our indisputably great actors. Bill Murray is the ne plus ultra of deadpan comic delivery -- salty as the Dead Sea, dry as Death Valley, and great in almost everything. He's 61 today, which means it's our duty to shine light upon his more underrated moments in movies. What's your pick?
I can't limit myself to just one, so here are two that immediately sprang to mind: In Tootsie, Murray delivers great, bastardly rants. Jessica Lange should give about a 1/4 of that Oscar to him.
In Get Low, a cute but inconsequential movie from last year where Murray plays an old-timey funeral parlor director, he bemoans the lack of fresh corpses in town. It's fun to hear him reference Chicago in a familiar way here, too. Second City forever!
What are your picks, dear readers? Feel free to wow me with your Kingpin comprehension.