[imagesource: Sascha Steinbach / Getty Images]

Look at Bill Murray.

Look how happy he is.

Now imagine you told him that when ranking his greatest movies, the Independent only saw fit to put Caddyshack in 15th place.

Actually, I don’t think Bill Murray is the sort of person who cares one bit what people say about him. He turned 70 yesterday, so he’s probably nursing a hangover at present.

Rather than run through the full list of 20, we’ll focus on the top five, starting with The Royal Tenenbaums (2001):

One of the best and funniest movies ever made about family. There’s so much to lose yourself in here: Gwyneth Paltrow as a dead-behind-the-eyes hipster, the Elliot Smith scene, Ben Stiller’s red tracksuit. Amid all that, it is easy to overlook Murray’s Raleigh St Clair, soft-voiced husband of  Paltrow’s wounded daddy’s girl Margot.

In a movie in which everyone else is conspicuously overdoing it, Murray’s minimalism serves as an essential counterpoint.

Because we care, we’ll even show you a trailer for each:

Fourth is a lockdown classic we can all relate to, 1993’s Groundhog Day:

A mean-spirited comedy about an oversized hamster – and also an unsurpassable rumination on life, self-improvement and destiny. Harold Ramis’s script is so sharp it would probably have worked regardless of who portrayed the weatherman fated to live the same day over and over until he pulls up his socks as a human being.

But casting Murray was the hilarious cherry on top. Alas, the existential angst extended to the shoot with director Ramis and his star having a terrible falling out and not speaking for many years.

I watched it recently, and it holds up:

Third place is the beginning of the Bill Murray / Wes Anderson love affair, and Rushmore (1998):

A middle-aged sad sack who falls in love with a teacher (Olivia Williams) ought not be a sympathetic character. Especially when his rival for her affections is one of her students. But the sparks thrown up by Murray and his romantic nemesis (Jason Schwartzman) are effervescent.

The film was a renaissance for Murray – showing to the world he could do more than just be hilariously grumpy.

He does grumpy so well, but it was good to see him branch out:

We head back to the 80s for number two, and Ghostbusters (1984):

One of the greatest ever comedies and a fantastic supernatural blockbuster to boot. Dan Ackroyd, who wrote the script with Harold Ramis, was genuinely obsessed with the spirit world, while co-stars Ramis, Ernie Hudson and Sigourney Weaver played it down the middle. The joker in the ectoplasm is Murray, who navigates the action just about keeping a straight face.

It is an irresistible counterpoint to all the End of the World hokum – the essential final ingredient in a near-perfect film.

I mean, you must have seen Ghostbusters, right?

Numero uno…

Is 2003’s Lost in Translation:

One of the finest movies of the 21st century and a beguiling odyssey into the cobwebbed recesses of the human heart. Murray is a burned-out older man who learns to look at life with fresh eyes after developing a friendship with the semi-abandoned wife of a rock photographer, portrayed by Scarlett Johansson…

You’ll never think about love, life, karaoke, or the music of French neo-proggers Phoenix, the same way again.

Worth a rewatch, if you’ve already dabbled:

The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou with came in at seventh, St Vincent at 20th, and The Grand Budapest Hotel at ninth.

Not to get your hopes up too much, but there is a new Bill Murray comedy on the way, and On The Rocks looks like it could be a goodie.

One final trailer:

The release date has been tentatively set for October, so keep an eye out for that.

[source:independent]