`LITTLE' GOES A LONG WAY FOR MURRAY; FUNNY GUY THROWS HIS TREMENDOUS TALENT, CLOUT INTO COMEDY ABOUT LUCKY DOOFUS.

Byline: Bob Strauss Daily News Film Writer

For Bill Murray, comedy is a serious matter.

But not that serious. Or is it? Sometimes it's hard to tell whether the past master of ironic humor, the comic king of heartfelt insincerity, is getting too theoretical on the topic of making people laugh or just putting us on.

``When you are man, you know,'' Murray says in a jokey accent. ``Well, you know when something's working because you've done it so many times, you've spent years doing it.

``People come up to me and go, `I want to do what you do. What do I do?' It gets me kind of angry because what they're really saying is, `I want to have your job, how do I get it?' But I'd have to say quit your job, don't do anything else and work at this for about 20 years. That's all, piece of cake. You've got to just commit yourself to that one thing.''

Plentiful plot

Intense job, this funny business. But don't get the idea that Murray isn't still having fun. Take ``The Man Who Knew Too Little,'' his latest movie. In it, Murray plays a guy who's having nothing but fun - while the fate of the world hangs in the balance.

He's Wallace Ritchie, a naive video-store clerk from Des Moines who, for his birthday, visits his banker brother James (Peter Gallagher) in London. For a present - and to get the goof out of his hair during an important client dinner - James signs up Wallace for the ``Theater of Life,'' a virtual adventure in which live actors run the customer through a thrilling scenario in real locations.

Trouble is, shady spy characters who miss the Cold War are planning a deadly disruption of a midnight treaty-signing ceremony. Wallace stumbles into their scheme and, thinking it's all part of the show, saves the day with the courage and idiotic ingenuity only a guy who thinks it's all a big joke can muster.

``I knew it could be funny, over and over again in lots of permutations,'' Murray says of ``Too Little's'' plot line, which is based on the novel ``Watch That Man'' by initial scriptwriter Robert Farrar. ``I could go out and make this movie again tomorrow, with completely new scenes, and score with it, I guarantee you. I've just never seen a premise this good.

``Wally's also got a childlike mind,'' Murray enthuses. ``He never really got out of the cornfields, in some ways, and he works renting videos, so he's seen all the movies, and he knows how the heroes are supposed to act. So it comes to him sort of slowly, but he really grows into it.''

Pretty high praise for a project that Murray initially hated. After talking his way into a role originally conceived as an Englishman, Murray arrived in London for rehearsals with director Jon Amiel (``Sommersby,'' ``Copycat'') and co-stars Joanne Whalley and Peter Gallagher.

``It was a truly horrid script,'' Murray confirms. ``When I got there, there was this big rehearsal hall with 17 courses of food; you'd stop to eat every 40 minutes. We'd be on Page 6 and I'd stop to say, `Are we gonna change this stuff or not?' and Jon would say, `I'm pretty happy with what we've got.' So I said, `Well, I guess I'll go back home' and put my coat on to leave.

`` `We have to change this,' I said. `This can be so much funnier.' ''

Amiel eventually conceded to his star's demand that Howard Franklin, who was behind the Murray bombs ``Quick Change'' and ``Larger Than Life,'' rework the screenplay.

Getting his way

Murray, who has something of a reputation for insisting that things be done his way, makes no apologies for what he considers a strong commitment to quality control. Or, as he defines it, good fun.

``I got in this job because the more fun I had, the better I did it,'' says the comedian. ``To be good at it, you just have to get out of your own way, relax and have fun. But if it's not completely relaxed, I know that it's not right.

``I drive some people nuts,'' Murray admits, ``when I go, `Let's work some more, I want to do it again.' They like the first take, and I'll do eight or 13 or something. But when I get it, I've found, I'm usually right. It's like cleaning your house. Everyone has a different standard of how clean their house should be. But if someone says, `I'm gonna get that a little cleaner for you,' you don't stop them.''

Committed? Yes. To a fault? Perhaps. But is Bill Murray a perfectionist? No way.

``When people call themselves perfectionists, they're either taking themselves too seriously or they think they're taking themselves too seriously,'' Murray explains. `` `I'm a perfectionist' - you know, you just don't like people who say that. I mean, I don't.''

What Murray obviously is, though, is a guy whose career has reached heights that he may or may not wish to scale again.

Raised in the Chicago suburb of Wilmette, Ill., in a family of nine children, Murray figured out how to be funny - or else - at an early age.

``Our father was only with us for the evening, and that was it, so we were very competitive for his attention and time,'' Murray recalls. ``And he had an extremely sophisticated sense of humor; he was one of the all-time tough laughs. So that was like a class in how to be funny.''

Although baseball was his first love (he co-owns the minor league St. Paul Saints), Murray followed older brother Brian Doyle-Murray to Chicago's Second City improvisational comedy theater. At first, the younger Murray was so rotten at improv that he refused to take the stage again for two years. But over that time, he observed such future collaborators as Harold Ramis (director of ``Caddyshack'' and ``Groundhog Day'') and John Belushi carefully. He eventually became a local comedy star in his own right, then moved on to New York's off-Broadway hit ``National Lampoon's Lemmings.''

The big time first called when Chevy Chase quit ``Saturday Night Live'' and Murray was tapped to replace him. Though it took him a while to gain audience acceptance, he ultimately created a range of indelible characters - noogie-dispensing nerd Todd, the critic who didn't go to movies, arguably the best ``Weekend Update'' anchorman - and perfected his fake/sincere hipster persona.

Of all the ``SNL'' graduates, Murray's movie success was surpassed only by Eddie Murphy's. ``Meatballs,'' ``Stripes'' and ``Caddyshack'' were all huge moneymakers; he even had a memorable small role in the Oscar-nominated hit ``Tootsie.''

Then in 1984 came ``Ghostbusters,'' which grossed nearly $221 million and briefly became the biggest comedy hit of all time (only ``Beverly Hills Cop,'' ``Home Alone,'' ``Men in Black'' and, if you consider it a comedy, ``Forrest Gump'' have since surpassed it).

After `Ghostbusters'

That same year, Murray made his one major foray into dramatic acting with a poorly received remake of Somerset Maugham's ``The Razor's Edge.'' But according to Murray, it was the overwhelming response to ``Ghostbusters'' that triggered a kind of self-imposed exile for the next three years.

``I was blessed from the beginning; the first half-dozen movies I made kept topping each other,'' he notes. ``Until, finally, `Ghostbusters' was so big I had to run away from it. I knew I couldn't top that movie.''

He was right. Murray's track record over the last decade has included notable but comparatively modest successes (``Groundhog Day,'' ``What About Bob?'') and more than a few clinkers. He's also made some memorable supporting appearances (``Ed Wood,'' ``Kingpin,'' ``Space Jam'') recently.

Next up is another limited role in the dark ensemble comedy ``Wild Things,'' and he'll soon take on another dramatic role in Wes Anderson's (``Bottle Rocket'') ``Rushmore.''

But comedy, not careerism, remains Bill Murray's primary concern.

``I've come to some sort of peace with it,'' he says. ``All you can do is the best you can. The box office isn't everything. You get satisfaction in life, and work, from enjoying it.''

CAPTION(S):

3 Photos

Photo: (1--Cover--Color) Fits the Bill

Murray is in his comic element in `The Man Who Knew Too Little'

(2) ``I could go out and make this movie again tomorrow, with completely new scenes, and score with it ... I've just never seen a premise this good,'' Bill Murray says of ``The Man Who Knew Too Little.''

(3) ``Ghostbusters'' with Bill Murray, left, Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis was a smash, setting box office record with $221 million in receipts.