Review of Groundhog Day (1993) by Jason V — 13 Nov 2011

There are potentially two downfalls in Groundhog Day: 1) Andie McDowall and 2) the incredibly caustic "early" Bill Murray. I'm not entirely sure the film is funny enough at the outset for audiences to offset Murray's character.

Yes, he needs to be unlikeable for the transformation to be pronounced. But if he's too unlikeable, the audience tunes out. Does that happen here? If it doesn't, it's sure close. And then there's Andie McDowall, who seems to be running to catch up to both Murray and the supporting players.

I never completely bought her change of heart for Murray's Phil over the course of a single day, or her attitude change from the first moment we're introduced to her through the rest of the story.

The structure of seeing the same events happen over and over does get repetitive, but luckily we don't have to watch everything that comes before and after a pivotal moment. The finale is a bit too pat for my tastes with a quasi-Kumbaya ending that felt more organic and less preachy.