My two favorite scenes in my two favorite Bill Murray movies

Written by Justene Adamec
Published June 27, 2004

Two of my favorite movies of all time are Bill Murray films, the classic Groundhog Day and the recent award-winning Lost in Translation. One of my favorite scenes of Lost in Translation is when Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson are in a restaurant for breakfast. They were supposed to go out the night before but Bill declined to go and ended up in a one night stand which Scarlett discovers the next morning. They go out to breakfast anyway. Bill watches her while she pouts. Finally she sighs and in an effort to move this moment along, says "I just missed you last night" to which he replies "why, was there no one there to lavish attention on you?" He didn't need to move the moment along, he wasn't in it at all.

I bought myself the DVD, which I should have done years ago, and watched it again with the Director's Commentary, which was a most enjoyable experience. There's a wonderful scene in the diner in Groundhog Day, which reminded me of the scene in Lost in Translation that I liked so much. Bill Murray, in an effort to get Andie McDowell to fall in love with him, asks her all of her qualities in a perfect man and, as she lists them, responds "me, me, me again." She starts to get into it and ups the ante, saying "he wouldn't be afraid to cry in front of me" and Bill Murray looks at her with that snarky disdain and says "this is a man we're talking about?" Next, she says "he would change poopy diapers" and he sighs and asks "would he have to use the word poopy?" The attitude is the same as the lavishing attention remark — I like you but there's a limit to how much of this girlie stuff I can take.

The Director's Commentary did not answer my number one question about the movie — whether the bachelor auction at the end is purposely similar to the lunch auction in Oklahoma (another of the top 5). There are too many similarities for it not to be. Andie Mcdowell, to win him, turns over every penny she has, even though the bidding is running lower, just as Judd did to win the girl in the Oklahoma auction; the use of the phrase "two bits" and the auctioneer's admonition that he doesn't want to know what happens after they win.

Justene practices law in downtown LA. To chat about this or other topics, IM Justene.
Keep reading for information and comments on this article, and add some feedback of your own!
My two favorite scenes in my two favorite Bill Murray movies
Published: June 27, 2004
Type:
Section: Video
Filed Under: Video: Romantic Comedies
Writer: Justene Adamec
Justene Adamec's BC Writer page
Justene Adamec's personal site
Spread the Word
Like this article?
Email this
Submit to del.icio.us Save to del.icio.us
RSS Feeds
All RSS Feeds (240+)
Comments on this article
BC articles by Justene Adamec
Video: Romantic Comedies
All Video Articles
All BC articles
All BC Comments

Comments

Want comments emailed to you? No spam, promise! Address:

Add your comment, speak your mind

(Or ping: http://blogcritics.org/mt/tb/16874)

Personal attacks are not allowed. Please read our comment policy.





Remember Name/URL?

Please preview your comment!

Fresh
Articles
Fresh
Comments