Great comedy, one of Murray's best

Rating: 8/10 (25 February 2005)

I just watched the film again after not having seen it since I saw it in the theater. I enjoyed it much more at the age of 29 than I did at the age of 17! At that younger age, the romance in this movie seemed too cheesy for me to take, but I can now see the movie as a decent romance, but mostly just a great comedy. It's sort of an existential comedy, it really puts its character in the place of having to question the value of his life. Since he can't even make the choice to end his life, in a way he's stuck in "the Myth of Sysyphus" and can't rise above it until he stops fighting it and lets other people affect him. It reminds me of the more recent film "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" in this way.
Murray's character is excellently realized... the other characters are good but they come off more as sounding boards for his character, including McDowell. I enjoyed the way the film was paced, it seemed to know perfectly how and what to show the audience. Don't know what else to say about it, it's a solid film, probably Murray's best straight-up comedy.