Ivan Reitman

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Some would say Ivan Reitman's greatest talent was staying out of Bill Murray's way. The restraint implied in that, though, would certainly be no small feat in an industry infamous for egos. But Reitman, who passed away a few days ago, did have a voice of his own that sustained his career for decades. Most people, quite rightly, consider his earlier films the best and Ghostbusters his one truly great film.

But Meatballs and Stripes are nothing to sneeze at. And, as a producer, he supported a couple of David Cronenberg's earliest films, Shivers and Rabid, two films that have continued to be talked about to this day.

Reitman and Murray worked so well together in those early films because Reitman didn't merely keep out of Murray's way, he kept up with him. There's a narrative speed to those films that matched Murray's pace. Reitman knew when to slow down and stay with an improved moment between Murray and Harold Ramis in Stripes, and Reitman knew when Murray had nailed a moment to move on to the next in Ghostbusters. Shooting Bill Murray in those early films must have been a little like being a wildlife photographer, especially in Meatballs.

How eerily appropriate it is that Ghostbusters: Afterlife was the last film Reitman worked on, not only producing for his son, Jason, to direct, but standing in for Harold Ramis as a body double. Reitman himself, of course, is as worth remembering as Ramis.