Review of Groundhog Day (1993) by Lorenzo V — 21 Jul 2012

"I'll give you a winter prediction: It's gonna be cold, it's gonna be grey, and it's gonna last you for the rest of your life.".

A weatherman finds himself living the same day over and over again.

REVIEW.

Smug, snide, cynical and dripping with more than an ounce of well-trained insincerity, Pittsburgh local Weatherman Phil Connors (Bill Murray, whose performance here seems to be his usual, languid, wise-ass self, but upon further review, is arguably one of his most slyly executed performance of his career) is not looking forward to covering Groundhog Day in nearby Punxsutawney. He isn't too thrilled with who he's being dispatched to cover it with: a bright new producer (Andie MacDowell) and an unassuming but equally wise-ass cameraman he's worked with before (Chris Elliott). Come the actual event, Phil goes through the motions, then is crestfallen to find out he'll be stuck in Punxsutawney through the day (he was set to leave town that afternoon) and have to spend one more night at a quaint bed-and breakfast where he doesn't fit in. That would soon prove to be the least of his problems, as he begins to relive the same February 2nd ad infinitum.

Murray's performance here is really worth more than a cursory glance: in having to relive the same day over and over again, his Phil is left open to relive it in both generous and selfish ways. As he continually re-crafts the same routines (and tries, in increasingly more grim fashions to escape it), he begins to learn about things and people he absolutely never would, not the least of which his attraction and affinity for his producer. Director Harold Ramis with Second City and Ghostbusters cohort Bill Murray is able to craft a film that, while it seems to be unable to find a way to wrap itself up (and is probably my biggest gripe of this film), is still both cuttingly funny, poignant and somewhat philosophical in its mien.