Review of Groundhog Day (1993) by Filipeneto — 17 Dec 2018

In the Eighties and Nineties, Bill Murray was one of the great comic actors, and this will be one of the most iconic films of his filmography. I have no doubt of that. The film portrays the journey of a television meteorologist to a small American town to cover the Groundhog Day ceremony (a ceremony that exists in real life) on 2 February. It turns out that this meteorologist is a detestable person with a bad and smug personality. Maybe because of this, he ends up getting stuck in time, reliving countless times the same day until he corrects his own mistakes.

The film is not clear on the reasons why the main character gets stuck in time. Simply inexplicable, this phenomenon happened and allows the character to do the stupidest things knowing in advance that he will live everything the next day, so there are no consequences. Generally, I do not like movies where strange phenomena occur without the film explaining to the audience the reason behind it, and I may even consider it as a point against the film, but in this case I am willing to make an exception. In fact, this film is so funny and enjoyable that we do not care about the logical reasons behind the story. The movie works just as well: strange, illogical and funny. That is enough.

Murray is the right man for the main character. He is the actor who always seems impassive and serious, even when around him the most stupid things unfold, as if all that were normal. And that makes the performance of this actor even funnier and appropriate for the character. Beside you, a capable cast of support allows you even more room to shine.

I will not consider this movie to be brilliant. It was not even thought to be. It's funny, it entertains well the audience and makes laugh without exaggeration. This makes it enjoyable, and a good bet for anyone who simply wants to spend quality time.