If you see one movie about a clown who robs a bank ... : "Quick Change"

Now this is what cable TV is all about. You're flipping along, considering this classic and that clunker, and you stumble across this nice little gem from when you were a teen. I mean, Bill Murray in clown makeup ... what more could you want? Forget "Inside Man." "Oh, Clive Owen, sooooo serious while robbing his bank." Lighten up, man.

I vaguely recall when "Quick Change" came out, and even then it was mostly without warning. Strange, given that Murray still had some box office clout in 1990. Sure, "Ghostbusters" was six years earlier, and "Groundhog Day" was three years later. But it's not like he dropped off the face of the earth in those nine years. The guy was gold, man! Gold!

Our story has Murray in full clown regalia robbing a Manhattan bank. As we soon learn, he's not in it alone, with goofball Randy Quaid and Geena (Can You Believe I Was Considered Sort of Hot Once?) Davis along for the ride. While the heist goes smoothly, the trio find it hard as hell to make a getaway. Oh, they make it out of the bank just fine. It's getting out of New York that's a problem. Hey, I lived there for two years. I know how it feels.

It's a simple and silly premise, but one that works for the most part. First of all, we get to see the spectacle of a clown just making his way to the bank, with the unforgettable scene of a strip club doorman yelling, "Nude women! Nude women! ... Clowns welcome! Clowns welcome!" And the robbery itself is highly amusing, mainly because Murray gets to drop a bunch of one-liners and have fun with the bank customers and the police chief, played by Jason Robards.

The aftermath of the robbery isn't bad, either, even if it drags here and there while playing out as a series of skits about how crazy things can get in New York. Oooh, here's a guy robbing us! Oooh, here's the Mafia! Oooh, here's a Nazi bus driver! Oooh, here's a woman chanting about death in Spanish! Dude, I saw this stuff everyday on my way home from work.

The performances? Murray is fine. Davis is mildly annoying. Quaid is more annoying. The legendary Phil Hartman has a small role that wastes most of his talents. Stanley Tucci and Tony Shalhoub are slightly better as a gangster and cab driver, respectively. Fortunately, this isn't the kind of movie that includes scenes you FedEx to the Academy, if you know what I mean.

Light and fluffy as it is, though, "Quick Change" is mostly entertaining, and I'll confess to wanting to know how our antiheroes get out of this mess. Sixteen years after the movie came out, I had totally forgotten, and while the finale was way too cute, it wasn't that bad. I was, however, disappointed that Murray didn't try to flee from the cops in a pair of big, floppy shoes. Come on, man ... if you're a clown, be a clown!