Movie Review: 'Groundhog Day'

Pros: Wonderfully written script, fine acting, good chemistry between Murray and MacDowell

Cons: None!

Phil: What would you do if you were stuck in one place and every day was exactly the same, and nothing that you did mattered?

Ralph: That about sums it up for me.


Imagine, if you will, being in a place where you'd rather not be and with people you'd rather not associate with but have to because it's part of your job. Add to this situation an acerbic, almost misanthropic attitude, a big ego, and very few redeeming qualities -- such as a knack for presenting your local news channel's weather segment -- and voila! You're exactly like Bill Murray's Phil Connors in 1993's romantic comedy/fantasy Groundhog Day.

Imagine, as well, what you would do if, for some bizarre reason, you were forced to relive the same day over and over and over again, with endless variations and possibilities. After all, you remember all that has gone before but everyone else doesn't. Would you merely go through the recurring time loop in essentially the same predictable manner and remain essentially unchanged? Or would you, as Phil Connors does in this wickedly funny yet sweetly romantic love story, gradually go from taking advantage of certain opportunities (robbing an armored car, say, or using a previous day's "intelligence gathering" to bed an attractive person) to becoming a more caring human being?

On the surface, Groundhog Day has a simple storyline: wry, acerbic, misantrophic weatherman Phil Connors is assigned by his Pittsburgh television station to cover the annual Groundhog Day ceremony in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, along with Rita (Andie MacDowell), a new and bubbly producer, and Larry, a wonderfully sarcastic cameraman/driver (Chris Elliott). Unhappy with being saddled with the assignment for the fourth year in a row, Phil grouses, mocks Rita's Candide-like cheerfulness, and generally acts like a television prima donna.

Now, when I first saw the film in theaters on my 30th birthday (my friends Betsy Matteis, Richard de la Pena, and David Dines had invited me out for dinner and a movie), I had no clue as to what was coming as soon as Phil wakes up on the first iteration of Groundhog Day. I'd read no reviews and was waking up much too late to have seen Gene Shalit's comments on the Today show, so I just figured it would be just a silly comedy focusing on a single day's events in a conventional format; maybe the groundhog would start talking to Phil, or there would be a typical hate-turns-into-love, bad-boy-loves-good-girl twist to the romantic part of the film. (As it turns out, I was right about that, but that's one of the genre's basic plot rules....)

Thus I was pleasantly surprised when Groundhog Day began in earnest when Phil -- having been forced to stay in Punxsutawney by the sudden approach of a nasty blizzard -- wakes up at 6:00 in the morning and discovers that there "was no tomorrow" for him. It's Groundhog Day all over again, with the same situations recurring over, and over, and over, and over again. Worse still, Phil can remember everything and everyone he encounters, even though everyone else doesn't.

Although the film has a vast array of supporting characters that are always fun to watch -- Stephen Tobolowsky's comically annoying Ned Ryerson is my favorite -- Groundhog Day is carried by the wonderful chemistry between Murray and MacDowell, whose irrepressible Rita becomes the first woman to truly capture Phil's heart. This being a romantic comedy, of course, I knew that Phil would eventually fall for the gorgeous brunette, but what caught me off-guard was the subtle way that screenwriters Danny Rubin and Harold Ramis (who, in addition to being one of the producers and the director of Groundhog Day, has a brief cameo as a medical doctor) inform the audience that Phil has feelings for Rita; in the scene where the still-acerbic and selfish weatherman seduces Nancy Taylor (Marita Geraghty), he calls out "Rita" twice while doing the "horizontal bop."

Ned: Phil? Phil Connors? Phil Connors, I thought that was you. Now don't you tell me you don't remember me 'cause I sure as heckfire remember you.

Phil: Not a chance.

Ned: Ned... Ryerson. "Needlenose Ned"? "Ned the Head"? C'mon, buddy. Case Western High. I did the whistling belly-button trick at the high school talent show? Bing. Ned Ryerson, got the shingles real bad senior year, almost didn't graduate? Bing, again. Ned Ryerson, I dated your sister Mary Pat a couple of times until you told me not to anymore? Well?

Phil: Ned Ryerson?

Ned: BING.

Phil: Bing.


There are other subplots to Groundhog Day's tale of Phil's re-entry into the human race, some being straightforward comedy, and some are bittersweet moments that show Murray's character's slow-but-steady redemption, but I think it's best for first-time viewers to discover them on their own. Suffice it to say that Groundhog Day is one of those rare movies that truly deserve the title of "classic comedy." It's mix of wry humor, fantasy, and warm romance lifts Groundhog Day head and shoulders above most "funny films." 

Video

Codec: MPEG-4 AVC (24.02 Mbps)
Resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1

Audio

English: Dolby TrueHD 5.1 (48kHz, 16-bit)
French: Dolby TrueHD 5.1
Portuguese: Dolby TrueHD 5.1

Subtitles

English, English SDH, French, Portuguese, Spanish, Arabic, Dutch, Indonesian, Korean, Mandarin (Simplified), Mandarin (Traditional), Thai 

Discs


Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD-50)
Bonus View (PiP)
BD-Live

Packaging


Inner print

Playback
Region free