Review 295: Groundhog Day

Groundhog Day is a magical and wonderful comedy about life, how we live our lives and how we can make other people’s lives better.

Phil Connors (Bill Murray) is an arrogant and egocentric weatherman from Pittsburgh who along with news producer Rita (Andie MacDowell) and cameraman Larry (Chris Elliot) travels to Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania to cover the Groundhog Day festivities. All goes well until the trio are forced to stay in Punxsutawney due to a blizzard and Phil wakes up the next day to find out it’s Groundhog Day, again! Phil finds himself trapped in a time loop. At first he hates it but soon it grows on him and starts to go through a change to become a better person.

The plot is genius; we’ve all had the experience of waking up and believing something has happened which turns out to be a dream, right? In an attempt to get out of the time loop Phil goes through the five stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance and Murray plays these five stages convincingly. By the end of the film he gains some knowledge about how people react to his attitude to life. The time loop is really clever because Phil is essentially trapped in Punxsutawney both literally and metaphorically, because the Blizzard keeps him, Larry and Rita from leaving and even if he did try to escape he would't make it through the Blizzard because he'd freeze to death.  

The mood and pace of the film changes from one moment to the next. There is a really romantic scene e.g. when Phil and Rita are dancing on the bandstand as the snow falls in the evening. The pace speeds up suddenly when Phil kidnaps Phil, the groundhog.

The funny thing is that even though it’s a very repetitive film: We see the same day being repeated over and over again, but there’s never a dull moment. The funny thing is that even though it’s a very repetitive film, there’s never a dull moment. But the multiple shots of Rita slapping Phil when he tries it on with her are a great way of showing us the time passing in a condensed manner. It’s the same when Phil buys Rita a drink at the bar, again the scenes have been edited into these little vignettes so we don’t have to see the whole day and the film doesn’t become overlong or tedious. In an attempt to show the viewer the different versions of the same day there is some clever camerawork e.g. extreme close ups of Phil’s bedside clock with the numbers turning incredibly slowly.

Most of the shots feature dialogue between two people e.g. Phil and Rita or Phil and someone from Punxsutawney. Although this is a comedy and it is a funny film e.g. when Phil is being obnoxious at the beginning, the dialogue is often about philosophical questions e.g. if you only had one day to live what would you do with it?

One particularly memorable scene is when Phil returns from bowling and drinking with his two new friends and is driving recklessly through Punxsutawney and he’s stopped by some cops. The dialogue in this scene catches us off guard because as the officer approaches to tell him off, he roles down a window and orders some flapjacks. Even though Groundhog Day has some serious messages e.g. how can we take advantage of life, this film uses humour to get them across.

It's definitely a film that appeals to everyone because we all have moments in our life we want to go back and revisit right? In this case Phil is stuck   

Writer/director Harold Ramis' direction is precise, the cinematography is beautiful, the score by George Fenton is tremendous, the production design is terrific, the costumes are great, the props are well crafted, the scenery is breathtaking, the Punxsutawney setting is excellent and the ending was wonderful.

The acting is superb, Bill Murray is at his best here, he beautifully and mesmirisingly portrays a man who is full of himself, gets caught in a timeloop, goes through the five stages of depression and then decides to make himself a better person.
Andie MacDowell is luminous and lovely as Rita, she and Phil are very reluctant to work together and at first they can't stand each other but over time Phil really grows to love and care for her and Rita (even though she doesn't realize their in a time loop) she gradually falls in love with her.
Chris Elliot is also great as Larry, he acts as a foil to Phil, he's not afraid, very cool and very down to earth but by the end he switches places with Phil.
Throughout the film Phil is supported by and meets a colourful arry of supporting characters, Nancy Taylor (Marita Geraghty) a girl he hits on, a waitress called Doris (Robin Duke) amongst others.   

Groundhog Day is not just a comedy, it's a thoughtful film with original ideas and great acting performances. It’s a very unique film and appeals to all ages. I don’t think there’s another film like it, 5/5.

The Anonymous Critic.