Bill Murray: 5 Awesome Performances And 5 That Sucked

4. Ernie McCracken - Kingpin (1996)

It's been a while, but the Farrelly brothers used to make genuinely entertaining movies before "gross-out" became licence to do just that with the pillars of film-making and not just the content. And between Dumb & Dumber and There's Something About Mary, the outrageous duo lost money, but gained a near-cult following for Kingpin, thanks in no small part to a scene-stealing performance by Murray. McCracken is easily the Farrellys' best villain creation; he's a cartoonish rogue, vain to a fault and all too invested in the fallacy of his own little bubble of importance. He's a self-made, self-imagined celebrity; his idea that he is "famous" in the Farrelly-created ludicrous universe where bowling is the pinnacle of fame and fortune is as laughable as his hairstyle, but gloriously nobody seems to notice. Again Murray plays unlikeable without the hangover: he's despicable but utterly charming and there's just enough suggestion that he's nothing more than a fool trying to hide his true form with bluster. As a mark of how well Murray got into the role, he actually made the three strikes in a row at the film's climax. Method.