Within every man there's goodness, given enough time

Rating: Null/10 (5 September 2015)

One of the most well-known Bill Murray films, a movie that defined a whole subgenre of time travel fiction – the so called "Groundhog Day Loop" – while also being a sweet love story in its own right. Nowadays it's a loved classic, and for a good reason. Its premise is really rather simple, a man is forced to live out the exact day over and over again, but the film makers explore its possibilities to their fullest, giving us a tale about the meaning of human interaction, loneliness and the depths we can either sink or rise when there's no one to witness us.
This is Bill Murray's film, through and through. His performance was the one that would either make or break the film, and he pulls it off magnificently. He gives us everything. The initial confusion, the horror of realization, the rage against the heavens, the joy of possibilities, the descend into monotony, the despair that comes with time, the strength to still move forwards. All this given with just the right amount of snark to keep the tone comedic, while also selling the depth of the story. I've never seen him show us more range and scale than in this movie.
Andie MacDowell also shines as the female lead, and the various other actors give us a nice setting in the sleepy town of Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. I don't think this film would have worked as well as it does now if the setting had been a larger city. Now you get to know the locale, the various inhabitants, which makes the humour and drama that much more poignant.
Groundhog Day is a fantastic film. Its premise and idea are pure fantasy comedy, but it rounds it up with heavy doses of emotion and drama, while still keeping it lighthearted enough to entertain. And it's those few darker moments that make the overall film shine all that much brighter.